Prosecutor calls woman accused of UW arson an 'extremist'

By PAUL SHUKOVSKY
P-I REPORTER

TACOMA -- A 32-year-old violin teacher and mother was portrayed Tuesday by
a federal prosecutor as a member of an extremist Earth Liberation Front
cell that "blazed a trail of destruction across Oregon and Washington."

Briana Waters is charged with playing a role in the torching of the Center
for Urban Horticulture in May 2001, which ELF hoped would set back
research into genetically altered trees.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Friedman told jurors in his opening
statement that the government will present testimony from two convicted
members of a 20-person ELF cell dubbed "The Family" -- Jennifer Kolar and
Lacey Phillabaum. Both agreed to testify against Waters in return for big
reductions in their sentences.

Waters not only acted as a lookout the night of the firebombing, Friedman
said, she also arranged for the rental car used to take the arsonists to
the target.

Friedman said Waters -- who at the time was living in Olympia with
relatives and studying at Evergreen State College -- claimed she was
feeling ill and duped her relatives into allowing her to use their rental
car to get to the hospital.

But the FBI found that the car was rented two days before the arson and
returned shortly afterward. It had been driven about 200 miles, enough to
go from Olympia to Seattle and back, Friedman said.

Defense attorney Robert Bloom called the prosecution's theory "ridiculous."

"It doesn't meet the standard of beyond a reasonable doubt," he said.

Bloom told jurors not to believe the testimony of the confessed
firebombers. "You have a right to consider what kind of people these are,"
he said. "Each of these people was facing mandatory minimum of 35 years.
They have a very high incentive that they please ... Mr. Friedman."

Bloom noted that a central figure in the ELF cell, Stan Meyerhoff, began
giving up the names of his compatriots -- including his own fiancée --
immediately after his arrest.

But, according to Bloom, when Meyerhoff was shown a picture of Waters, he
said: "This person in this picture looks familiar and she was not
involved."

Of the five people accused of plotting the UW arson, one had since
committed suicide in jail, one is on the run, and two others have reached
plea bargains with the government.

Waters' case is the only one to go to trial.

The trial in U.S. District Court could last up to four weeks. If found
guilty of the charges, which include use of a firebomb to commit arson and
conspiracy, Waters faces a minimum 35-year prison term.

The horticulture center was destroyed by the fire and had to be rebuilt by
the university at a cost of $7 million.

P-I reporter Paul Shukovsky can be reached at 206-448-8072 or
paulshukovsky@seattlepi.com.