Prosecution wraps up its case in trial of missile vandals
By JENNYMICHAEL
Bismarck Tribune

WILL KINCAID/Tribune Michele Noar-Obed, right, and Barbara Lund hold a banner of support for Greg Boertje-Obed outside the Federal courthouse in Bismarck on Wednesday.Michele is Greg's wife. Barbara Lund is a friend who is also from Duluth, Minn.

The prosecution wrapped up its case after the first day of testimony in the trial of three men accused of damaging a Minuteman III missile silo near Garrison.

Assistant U.S. attorney Clare Hochhalter said at 4:40 p.m. Wednesday that the prosecution had finished its case.

Hochhalter called on seven witnesses, six from the U.S. Air Force and one from the FBI, to testify in the United States of America's cases against Carl Kabat, 72, Greg Boertje-Obed, 51, and Michael Walli, 57.

Kabat, Boertje-Obed and Walli have been charged with one count each of destruction of government property, which carries a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.

The men are accused of breaking a lock on the gate of the missile site in McLean County on June 20 and damaging it. It is alleged that they entered the site, spray-painted messages on the ground around the site, hammering on the silo lid and pouring blood around the site while dressed as clowns.

The men do not deny the allegations, but believe they are justified by international law. They say weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear missiles, are against the law.

Shane Ball, a special agent with the FBI, was the first defendant called to testify by Hochhalter.

Ball, who has served more than 11 years in the agency, said he was called to investigate at the E-9 Launch Facility, the location of damaged silo.

Ball said he met the three defendants at the Garrison Police Department, where they told him they did not wish to make a statement to law enforcement. They said they had left their statement at the missile site, he said.

Ball said he asked the men whether anything dangerous had been left at the site, and they said no.

Ball also testified that the damages incurred at the missile site were "well over $1,000," which is the amount of damage the government must prove was done for the jury to return a guilty verdict in the charges against the men.

Ball said he went to the site to investigate and found numerous signs on the fence, spray paint on the concrete inside the fence, a "blood-like substance" splattered on the concrete, baby bottles with remnants of the blood, and a spin-dial that had been knocked off the door to the missile vault.

Hochhalter entered a number of items into evidence, including those obtained during the search of the site, as well as photographs of the defendants in clown suits taken during the investigation and photos of the damage site.

Hochhalter also showed photos of the men entering the missile site that had been posted on the Internet.

In the photos, the three men had their faces painted like clowns. Boertje-Obed appeared to be wearing the same shirt in the photograph that he wore to court on Wednesday.

Kabat asked in cross-examination if he could read the statement he and the other two had signed and left at the site.

The statement said the men were issuing "a call for national repentance." It contained various Biblical quotations, historical content about nuclear war and information from international laws and treaties.

Air Force security testifies

Jurors also heard testimony from five U.S. Air Force security personnel from the Minot Air Force Base who responded to an alarm call at E-9 Launch Facility.

The first was Neal Hardin, who said he is a helicopter flight engineer. He said he responded to the alarm via helicopter and spotted the men from the air. He also looked around for any other people in the area.

Heath Hitchcock and Gqwon Morton, members of the base's security force response team, testified they responded to the alarm call, saw the three men, called for backup and got permission to approach the missile site.

Hitchcock said the men already had their hands in the air. He said he used the vehicle's PA system to order the three men to come out of the site, then get on the ground.

He said they detained and handcuffed the men.

"All three defendants were completely compliant with everything we said to do," he said.

Mary Paulino and Liesl Laurich, also security personnel from the air base, reported searching the site and seeing the same items that Ball said he had found.

Lt. Col. Donald Adams testified that Ball's testimony about the costs of damages incurred at the site were accurate. He said replacing the door of the vault to the missile silo alone cost more than $14,000.

The court had been in recess until 1:30 p.m. after jury selection ended at 12:25 p.m. Following the recess, U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Hovland gave the jury its instructions for the trial, which was followed by opening statements for each side of the case.

Hochhalter gave a five-minute preview of the government's case. He told jurors that the evidence would prove every element of the charges against the defendants, as required for them to deliver a guilty conviction.

Hochhalter's opening statement was followed by one from each of the defendants in the case.

Defendants speak out

The defendants and their attorneys did not deny the government's allegations against them during their opening statements, but instead previewed their justifications for their actions. Two defendants spoke for themselves, while Walli had obtained a pro bono attorney who delivered his opening statement.

All three opening statements were sprinkled with biblical quotations and references to the jurors' consciences.

Kabat, a Catholic priest, went first and spoke for more than 25 minutes. The bald man wore small glasses occasionally during the day. He also wore a navy suit coat, black pants and white Nike sneakers.

Kabat is representing himself in the case with the assistance of Bismarck attorney Mandy Maxon. Maxon works at the Vogel Law Firm and was appointed to serve as stand-by counsel for Kabat.

Kabat told the jurors that he has spent more than 16 years in prison for various offenses committed while protesting nuclear weapons since 1973.

Weapons of mass destruction such as nuclear weapons are a threat to humanity and are against international laws and treaties, Kabat said.

Kabat compared nuclear weapons to slavery, apartheid, holocaust and segregation.

"All the great evils of the world have been legal," he said.

Kabat asked the jurors to use their consciences to decide in favor of the defendants.

"You are the consciences of the people," he said. "Of this community here of Bismarck, the conscience of the state of North Dakota and the conscience of this country."

Boertje-Obed wore a white T-shirt, green pants and white socks under brown sandals.

He is also defending himself in the case. Bismarck attorney Jeffrey Weikum was appointed to be Boertje-Obed's stand-by counsel.

During his 12-minute statement, Boertje-Obed said the defendants' actions were "both a real and symbolic action"against nuclear weapons.

"The teachings of Jesus are contrary to nuclear weapons," he said.

Bill Quigley, a New Orleans attorney and Loyola University professor, is representing Walli in the case. During his opening statement, which lasted about seven minutes, he said his client and the other defendants acted "peacefully and prayerfully."

He said they did what they felt was right, then waited for Air Force personnel to arrest them.

"They were compliant from the very beginning," he said.

Daniel Gregor, an attorney from Salt Lake City assisting Quigley, said statements such as those made by the defendants during opening statements are not usually allowed in trials of this nature. Topics such as nuclear weapons, the Geneva convention and international law have typically not been permitted, he said.

"I'm very pleased that the judge did not shut that down," he said, noting it would have been technically legal for Hovland to do so.

He said Hovland will likely instruct jurors that opening statements are not evidence to be considered in arriving at a verdict.

Jury selected in morning

Jury selection in the case began at 9:30 a.m. at the federal courthouse in Bismarck. At 12:25 p.m., seven women and five men were sworn in as jurors in the case.

Hovland questioned the group of 28 prospective jurors on their knowledge of the case and their professional and personal backgrounds.

One man from the group was excused early in the morning after telling Hovland that he had read newspaper accounts of the incident and did not believe he could set aside his views in favor of missile sites.

A woman from a group of alternate jurors replaced him. She was also excused later when she told Hovland her sister works in the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Each side exercised their peremptory challenges and got rid of 11 men and five women from the jury pool, to leave the field with 12 jurors.

People from various anti-war and anti-nuclear weapons organizations from across the country were also in attendance in the courtroom Wednesday. Some traveled as far as Minnesota, Iowa, Colorado, New York and North Carolina to show their support for the defendants.

Also on hand were U.S. Air Force personnel, including the six who testified in the case for the prosecution.

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@;bismarcktribune.com.)

Comments

NorthDakotan wrote on September 14, 2006 1:57 PM : "I just discovered the Strategic-Air-Command site I provided is not an official government site. It is a privately owned site."

NorthDakotan wrote on September 14, 2006 1:16 PM : "If you go to the Strategic-Air-Command web site you will get a detailed report of the Minuteman III missile stating what type of warhead it has. The site states the warhead is nuclear, in fact most often it is probably a multiple warhead. I stand corrected regarding the handheld GPS. I thought mine gave longitude and latitude down to minutes and seconds, it does not. Here is the URL of the web site: http://www.strategic-air-command.com/missiles/Minuteman/Minuteman_Missile_Technology.htm"

Wendell Fake Name, Jr. wrote on September 14, 2006 12:54 PM : "If people saw someone beating a child, their consciences would force them to take action to stop it because they believe it's wrong. These guys are following their consciences because they believe WMDs are wrong. True, I would and I do choose different ways to protest WMDs here and abroad, but they felt they needed to stop the violence of WMDs. They felt that they couldn't just sit back while WMDs lurk in our midst. Rock on, clowns! "

To billie wrote on September 14, 2006 12:34 PM : "The Air Force has a policy neither to confirm or to deny the possession of nuclear weapons. So you are right that something odd is going on. It kind of proves the defense case that WMD are so terrible that you cannot actually claim to have them. The witnesses were coached to give vague answers. Of course they knew that the missiles were armed with nuclear warheads. The defense should have pressed harder to expose the lies and deception of these witnesses."

GPS Info wrote on September 14, 2006 11:56 AM : "Contrary to what North Dakotan will tell you, only military GPSs can give true locations down to the minute and second. All civilian issued GPS's are off by a few clicks."

Taxpayer wrote on September 14, 2006 11:50 AM : "To Billie: Unless you have seen those missiles in the silos with your own eyes, you cannot say under oath that they are there. "

Beesh wrote on September 14, 2006 10:24 AM : "To NorthDakotan, time to go to the activity room and take your meds again. No you can play on the computer again tomorrow... Can we say delusional paranoia? It is a federal crime to break into, tamper with or vandalize government property. Luckily that facility didn't have armed guards above ground or they could have been shot on sight. These aptly attired 'clowns' have a history so a pass jail card won't work. Put them in federal prison and make them wear clown costumes instead of prison garb. They are idiots and do not deserve to walk free. "

billie wrote on September 14, 2006 9:42 AM : "Great article. Looks like the reporter was really paying attention. There is one thing she missed that many at the trial thought was important. Several Air Force people testified. When they were asked under oath if they knew what kind of weapon was in the missile launch site, they repeatedly replied with "this is outside of my expertise." One young man actually answered with a "no" when asked this question. It looks as though they were coached by their supervisors, but they came close to perjury. The man who said he did not know what was in the launch site was probably perjuring himself. What is in the launch site is an important part of this case. The fact that the military personnel would not admit to the presence of a nuclear weapon made them look very naive and incompetent. If they were telling the truth they were the only ones in the courtroom who did not know.If they really did know and answered "no" then they were lying under oath."

NorthDakotan wrote on September 14, 2006 9:37 AM : "The demonstrators broke a padlock, sprayed paint on the concrete blast door, hammered on it, and poured blood on it. This is a door that is engineered to withstand the nearly direct hit of an atom or hydrogen bomb. Mischief and vandalism yes, 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both, no! Should we ever go to all out nuclear war, everyone in North Dakota who survives the 150 plus nuclear weapons impacting North Dakota soil (during a "first strike" attack) will curse the day we allowed ourselves to have them placed in our state. The enemy will attempt to "dig" out the silo or prevent us from launching our missiles through the fireball above the silo while they attack other strategic targets in our country. The radioactive fallout will be unbelievable not to mention the heat and damage from the blast shock waves. The permanently placed North Dakota missiles are dinosaurs that are no longer needed. We have a far better weapons system with our nuclear missile carrying submarines. Russia, China and anybody who wants to know, knows exactly were each North Dakota missile is located. Anyone one of us can walk right up to the chainlink fence surrounding each silo and with a handheld GPS find out the latitude and longitude down to minutes and seconds. Don't climb over the fence, as sensors will indicate your presence and several helicopters full of soldiers will soon be sweeping down on you! One doesn't even have to stand beside the fence. Stand out on the highway/road, that would be near enough. My point is, if the average citizen can plot their location so can the enemy. Our nuclear missile submarines are constantly moving around and are fully capable of doing the job of rendering the surface of our planet uninhabitable. In an age of terrorism, those silos are dangerous. What would happen if terrorists drove a tanker truck full of gasoline through the gate and exploded it upon the silo blast door or beside the blast door? Would the fireball be mistaken for a launch, infrared, heat-sensing satellites are constantly monitoring the missile field. Could this precipitate a war? A far greater threat is the terrorist with a nuclear weapon in a backpack, or suitcase or parked truck. I say have a speedy trial, find them guilty. Fine them appropriately, have them do community service and let them go. They didn't do anything different then what Rosa Parks did and she changed a nation."

jevanp wrote on September 14, 2006 9:06 AM : "Make 'em pay-up / clean-up / and lock 'em up. Let 'em preach from prison."

Taxpayer wrote on September 14, 2006 9:02 AM : "What a waste of time and taxpayer dollars. Whether nuclear weapons are right or wrong in the eyes of God and/or humanity, who do they think is going to get stuck paying for all the costs to repair their vandalism? I think they could find a better way to state their cause. "

Anti-Bozo wrote on September 14, 2006 8:17 AM : "These guys are nuts! I have a feeling that they don't understand the consequences if we didn't have those missiles here! "

Al wrote on September 14, 2006 7:56 AM : "Max the sentences."