the bioterrorism prosecution of Dr. Thomas Butler . . .

[OneBlueSky]

http://www.promedmail.org/pls/askus/f?p=2400:1001:8251921360927505805::NO::F2400_P1001_BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,29134

(snip)

In January 2003, Dr. Butler could not locate 30 vials of plague specimens
and reported this to the safety officer at Texas Tech University; the
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was notified by Texas Tech
University, which resulted in 60 FBI agents rapidly descending upon Texas
Tech University and the briefing of government officials, apparently up to
the level of President George W. Bush. According to reliable sources,
Butler was questioned by FBI agents without legal counsel which he waived,
because he felt he had nothing to hide, he had worked with the military and
federal agencies for years on this and other projects, and he genuinely
wanted to help the FBI allay public fears. Testimony at the trial indicates
that, after many hours of interrogation without sleep, and with the
assurance that such interrogation would prevent any legal action, he signed
a statement to the effect that the vials may have been autoclaved. He was
then put in handcuffs and jailed, having been accused of lying to the FBI
(a charge for which he was later acquitted). Jonathan Turley, an attorney
for Butler and a professor at George Washington University School of Law,
noted that "this made no sense. He would never have created a controversy
to conceal the accidental destruction of vials". After being incarcerated
for 6 nights in county jail without bail, Butler was allowed to post bail
of US$100 000 (which was later increased to $250 000) but remained under
house arrest, with electronic monitoring. He was not to contact colleagues
who were on a witness list, and he had no access to his computer or e-mail
for many months, despite having worked as Chief of the Infectious Diseases
Department at Texas Tech University and having lived in Lubbock for 16
years, where he and his wife were raising 4 children and enjoying much
respect in the community.

Butler was offered a plea bargain which involved pleading guilty to lying
and spending 6 months in jail but declined and chose to risk trial by jury
to clear his name. Although the original concerns of bioterrorism were not
supportable, multiple additional charges largely unrelated to the
disappearance of the vials containing _Y. pestis_ were filed (i.e., "piled
on"), including illegal transportation of plague bacteria, tax evasion,
embezzlement, and fraud, for a total of some 69 charges carrying a maximum
sentence of 469 years in prison and US$17 million in fines. Many of the
charges had to do with contract disputes Butler had with his university
(which are normally handled through civil, not criminal, proceedings) and
were unrelated to the original charges associated with the disappearance of
the vials. During the trial, prosecutors described Dr. Butler as an "evil
genius" and compared him to "a cocaine dealer smuggling illegal drugs," and
they emphasized the accusations of lying to the FBI and endangering the
public and made repeated references to terrorism, actions many felt were
designed to create an atmosphere of fear in the conservative West Texas
courtroom.

Ultimately, a jury acquitted Butler of most of the original charges,
including lying to the FBI, and the charge of tax evasion; he was convicted
of charges related to one overseas shipment of an express-mail package
containing "lab specimens" originally from Tanzania (a technical violation)
back to his collaborators in Tanzania and of charges concerning contracts
and indirect administrative charges associated with grants received from
pharmaceutical companies. However, the former dean of Texas Tech University
who had helped recruit Butler, was aware of Dr. Butler's grants and
consultancies and had encouraged him to finance his research and fund his
salary with them. Testimony also indicated that others at Texas Tech
University were aware of and/or had signed his contracts; there were
apparently no rules against such arrangements at the time. During his
trial, members of the Texas Tech University administration testified
against Butler, despite strong support from his colleagues and friends. The
role of the Texas Tech University administration in the prosecution of Dr.
Butler has been of great concern to faculty throughout the nation and is
considered by many to be unprecedented. In attempts to explain this
behavior toward a prominent and respected tenured faculty member, questions
have been raised about pressures that may have been exerted on the
university through its biodefense contracts with the Department of Defense.

The judge (who was obviously sympathetic) imposed a sentence of 2 years (to
run concurrently), rather than the 10-year sentence corresponding to his
conviction, and a payment of approximately US$38 000 to Texas Tech
University, rather than $1 million. Many wrote to the judge urging a
suspended sentence with community service; rumor has it that the judge did
not do so out of concern that this would result in an automatic federal
appeal for an even longer sentence.

- more . . .

http://www.promedmail.org/pls/askus/f?p=2400:1001:8251921360927505805::NO::F2400_P1001_BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,29134

[dweller]

1. i'm suprised he's still alive

since the lists of bioterror/scientists seems to keep growing.

dp