SANTA ANA — The Gulf War made a sortie into U.S. District Court on Wednesday when a federal public defender asked that his client's trial on charges of planning to smuggle aircraft and missiles to the Middle East be postponed for the duration of hostilities with Iraq.
Deputy Public Defender H. Dean Steward argued in a motion that extensive media coverage of Operation Desert Storm and prejudice against Arab countries will make it impossible to pick an impartial jury to try Joseph O'Toole, 58, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and Santa Ana aviation consultant.
"Each potential juror has been saturated with war news," Steward said. "It is not difficult to imagine a deep, subliminal passion and prejudice in favor of the United States and against all Arab enemies in each and every potential juror."
Steward, who heads the federal public defender's office in Santa Ana, requested a postponement of at least six months. A hearing before a federal judge to determine whether the delay should be granted has been scheduled for Feb. 25, about 10 days before O'Toole's trial date.
The prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Atty. Baruch Weiss, who is based in New York City, declined to comment on Steward's request.
O'Toole, who flew more than 100 combat missions during the Vietnam War, is accused of plotting in 1989 to sell 712 Stinger antiaircraft missiles through Turkey to an undisclosed country and three Lockheed C-130E military transports to Iran for $12 million each. The transports and missiles--the sale of which is heavily controlled by the United States--were owned by the Israeli government.
The C-130 Hercules, a workhorse of the U.S. armed forces since the 1950s, has a variety of military applications, including mine laying, mid-air refueling of other aircraft and use as a heavily armed gunship. Stingers are shoulder-fired, ground-to-air missiles used by the infantry.
Two other defendants in the case, Richard St. Francis of Connecticut and Ari Ben-Menashe, an Israeli, were acquitted last year in New York City during their trials on charges related to the C-130 deal with Iran. They were not accused of trying to sell Stinger missiles.
Steward contended in court papers filed Wednesday that the chances of a similar result for O'Toole should not be interfered with by the Gulf War's impact on the American public.
