telling others about the fact, and some clergy urged Kopp to get out of the country. Yes, in their early conversations, Mr. Kopp seemed quite agitated, at times unbalanced.
The day neared when the Court of Appeal in Rennes would make its extradition decision. Rouzaud–Le Boeuf received a phone call. He should appear in court immediately. There he was handed the faxed letter. It was from the U.S. embassy in Paris. The Americans would not seek the death penalty for James Charles Kopp. Rouzaud–Le Boeuf smiled. His client was going to live. Of course, the Americans had little choice. They could not risk losing Kopp altogether. And, if Kopp was innocent, as his lawyer strongly believed, then he would be ultimately acquitted. How might Kopp fare in New York? He had retained a high-profile Buffalo defense lawyer named Paul Cambria. He would of course still need to navigate the American legal system and its sideshows—the media frenzy, the money, courtroom histrionics, plea bargains. In America, Rouzaud–Le Boeuf reflected, innocent men sometimes end up in prison, admit to crimes they did not commit.
There was something else that worried him. There was a signature missing on the letter from the U.S. embassy—Ashcroft’s. It should be there, he thought. This was an important case, shouldn’t the attorney general himself make the decision? Now, on the other hand, it was unthinkable that top American officials would renege on such a promise. It would be a gross violation of international law. But there was still that risk, however small. On June 7, Rouzaud–Le Boeuf got what he was looking for—a public statement from Ashcroft on the extradition agreement:
James Charles Kopp committed a heinous crime that deserves severe punishment. We need to send a strong message that, no matter what our differences are, violence is not the solution. The FACE laws were created to ensure that violence against individuals providing legally available health services is not tolerated and will carry a stiff penalty, and I intend to enforce those laws. Shortly after the arrest, the French government, pursuant to its law and practice, asked the United States to assure it that the death penalty will not be imposed or carried out. Nevertheless, I have been working to ensure the United States’ ability to pursue strong punishment for this terrible crime. I wanted to make sure that our nation would not be constrained by limits placed on Kopp’s extradition by France, preventing us from seeking punishment outlined by our laws and our Constitution, such as the death penalty. Unfortunately, in order to ensure that Kopp is not released from custody and is brought to justice in America, we have had to agree not to seek the death penalty. I share the sentiments of Dr. Slepian’s widow, Lynne Slepian, that if the choice is between extraditing Kopp to face these serious charges in a United States court or risking his release by France, the priority must be Kopp’s return.
On June 28, the Court of Appeals in Rennes ruled that Kopp should be extradited to the United States for trial. But to Jim the game was just beginning. He was a lawyer’s son, after all. He decided to challenge the court’s decision. If he could delay his return, all the better. And if the ruling was by some chance overturned, he could remain in Europe indefinitely. As for the death penalty, he didn’t trust any of them back home, not even the pro-life conservative Ashcroft, whose hands were surely tied on the matter. The abortion industry was bigger than any one man. They all wanted him to suffer. The Edgars were no doubt putting the full-court press on anyone he had ever known or loved back home, he thought. No, once the Americans got him back home, all bets were off. He was certain “The Government” would never cease trying to make an example of him. And that meant that a lethal injection might still await James C. Kopp.
As Jim Kopp waited for the appeal court to rule, he wrote letters to family and friends. Now was his chance to explain the last two and a half years. Jim was certain the FBI had given his brother, Walter, who still lived in California, a rough ride. In his mind’s eye he could see the men in dark suits and sunglasses hounding his twin brother. “Yeah, uh, gee, Walt, we think you oughta cooperate—seems we found this stuff called DNA at the murder scene. James Kopp’s DNA. Couldn’t be anyone else’s DNA. Well, unless of course the killer had a twin. You reading us here, partner? Jail is not a pleasant place to be, Walt…”
He wrote Walter, protesting his innocence, defending his convictions:
I have been framed. I guess I just wanted to make certain you knew there was no deal on the table and likely not to be with the way I have been drawn and quartered before I even got to court. They knew they didn’t have to deal, not after the job they have done on me… I don’t blame you one bit if you are upset and frustrated. Me too, you know. I didn’t do this. But one thing I am guilty as hell about is my religion and beliefs, especially pro-life. In that regard I’m no different from all the people being put in new graves in Israel and Beijing… I know this is hard. You are suffering, through no fault of your own, for your brother’s religion. Many people in Russia and China are dead over this. You are so kind to keep asking to help when all I gave you, via the movement, not via killing anybody, is grief. I guess what I’m trying to say is that it is my religion and belief that bother the powers that be. If I were not pro-life, they would have not gotten this far. Actually, they would never have thought of it. I would be no greater a suspect than you are… My current lawyer, who I hope to keep, hates pre-trial publicity. But there is another set of lawyers out there who I have no control over who want to show the world about how I have been framed.
In another letter to Walt, he further developed his self-portrait as innocent fall guy:
If I could name who shot Slepian, I would. But I do not know for certain. I suspect I’m in trouble because I can make a good guess. But it’s nothing they don’t already know. Even if the FBI knew I did not do it, it’s too late for them to change horses and stick the blame on someone else. Do not to be ashamed is my word. I would think that’s good enough. But most people only believe what they read in the newspaper.
He wrote a long letter to Susan Brindle, intended as a message for all his friends to see—and he knew the Edgars would be reading it at their leisure, too:
The Peace of the Lord be always with you, but especially today!
I don’t like writing generic letters, i.e. letters intended for more than one person, but I am out of paper and stamps, and so many people have written. Also, it is tedious to repeat things, to the point where I don’t repeat them, and even good friends, as a result, are clueless.
As I told the extradition judge here, I am innocent of this terrible thing, and I desire to enter an American court as soon as possible to clear my name. Any delays toward that goal are procedural in terms of the slow grinding of the wheels of justice. Some advantage accrues to my defense lawyers in that they can prepare a defense.
Preparing a defense in this sense does not mean merely establish my alibi and things like that, things I could have attempted two and a half years ago. “Preparing a defense” means becoming familiar with the bizarre twists against me. For example, you would think that hair or carpet fiber appearing in a forest is laughable enough, and not hardly worth refuting, especially as both appear in connection with the stealing of my car from an airport parking lot. But suppose other defects appear in the hair itself; and you can get the hair omitted by pointing this out? Do you see what I mean? These are the sorts of decisions Mr. Cambria (my lawyer) must face. All of this stuff has to be evaluated on its merits, even if its appearance is ludicrous.
Why did I run away if I’m innocent? This is what everyone wants to know. The answer is a person, not a thing or an idea. The person is Maurice Lewis, R.I.P., who was poisoned in Canada in 1996, roughly.
Maurice’s body was found in a truck parked on the side of the road. His body had lain there two days. The official cause of death is “no apparent cause” or trauma—nothing except that he was dead. The RCMP report indicated the presence of someone who cleaned up the death scene before the RCMP got there (Royal Canadian Mounted Police—like CHPs, or State Troopers in the United States). Why do we know this? The RCMP makes no reference to any wrappers, papers, soda cans or bottles or bags that one would associate with eating a snack. The only people I know with no food wrappers in their cars are people who only eat in restaurants on long drives. Maurice Lewis was not such a person. All prolifers eat cheap so they can save money to pay for the expenses of pregnant women, which Maurice Lewis did do.
I spent six weeks alone with Maurice in a strip cell in Rome, when we were beaten. I know about him. So, the death of Maurice weighed on my mind in Fall 1998, when the first news of the FBI seeking me as a witness
