BUFFALO, August 27, 2002 (LSN.ca) – The lawyer for James Kopp, the pro-life activist accused of killing abortionist Barnett Slepian, has balked at prosecution attempts to have Kopp fill out a blank purchase order for a gun. Kopp was in the process of submitting 150 handwriting samples demanded by the prosecution when he came across the order form.
“We sat down to complete it all at the courthouse – and they slipped this form in,” attorney Paul Cambria Jr. said. “So we went down to the judge. I objected to him filling out an actual blank form, because in my opinion that’s too suggestive and prejudicial.” The judge ruled Monday that Kopp should only have to submit samples on blank sheets of paper.
Buffalo News reports Cambria is concerned that jurors might be shown the handwriting samples and if some of the writing is on a form similar to the one that was used to purchase the rifle that killed Slepian it could be “artificially suggestive” to the jury. Last month, pro-lifers who believe James Kopp is being framed for the murder of the abortionist were crying foul after the judge in the case ordered Kopp to stand up in police lineups, wearing a fake mustache and a fake beard, and with his hair dyed reddish-brown. This would conform with the way police claim Kopp looked on the night Slepian was killed in October 1998. See related LifeSite coverage: https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/jul/02072207.html See the Buffalo News coverage: https://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20020827/1010612.asp