Trial Without Defendants

Defiant Puerto Rican terrorists boycott the courtroom

Spectators were frisked and had to walk through metal detectors. Twice a day, dogs sniffed around for bombs. The courtroom was crammed with evidence--wigs, explosive paraphernalia, even the proverbial kitchen sink (it bore palm prints). Only one thing was missing during the six-day trial at the federal office building in Chicago: a defendant.

In fact, eleven defendants were absent. All are members of the Puerto Rican independence group called F.A.L.N. (short for Fuerzas Armadas de Liberation National Puertorriquena), which specializes in terrorist bombings. Calling themselves prisoners of war, the defendants refused to recognize the authority of the court or take part in the proceedings. (One of the eleven remains a fugitive.) Said Michael Mason, a federal defender who sat quietly in a corner in case legal advice was needed: "Several refused to see me. The ones who would see me wouldn't talk to me."

The ten on trial were arrested in the Chicago suburb of Evanston,Ill., last April following the holdup of a car rental agency. Four months later in Cook County courtrooms, two were convicted of robbery and sentenced to 30 years, while the others received eight-year terms for conspiracy and weapons violations. Since some of them would have been eligible for parole in 1984, the Federal Government brought charges of its own, including seditious conspiracy and illegal use of weapons. In all, the feds linked the group to 28 bomb plots in the Chicago area.

Though the defendants boycotted their trial, the proceedings were piped in to a lounge at a prison two blocks away, where the six men were being held. While their supporters rallied outside the courthouse, the men spent part of their time doing sit-ups and leg lifts, and when the jury announced convictions on all counts, they took a break from a card game to laugh and clap. In a similar room sat the four women, reading, napping or just listening in. After each witness had finished, marshals asked the two groups if they wished to cross-examine. The responses invariably ranged from silence to "no" and were walkie-talkied back to another marshal at the courthouse.

Last week the terrorists appeared in court for sentencing, thoroughly shackled but still defiant. Most, like Ringleader Carlos Alberto Torres, 28, shouted "Viva Puerto Rico Libre!" Carmen Valentin, 34, a former Chicago teacher, threatened Federal Judge Thomas R. McMillen: "If I weren't chained, I'd try to take care of you right now." For his part, McMillen told Ricardo Jimenez, 24: "If there were a death penalty for these crimes, I'd impose it on you without any hesitation."Depending on how unrepentant he found each to be, McMillen handed down sentences ranging from 55 to 90 years to be tacked on to their Cook County terms. Meanwhile, an estimated 15 to 25 of their comrades remain at large. Authorities believe the F.A.L.N. may be responsible for the attempted shooting of an Army recruiter in North Chicago during the trial. Said the chief prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Margolis: " These arrests didn't end the F.A.L.N."

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