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03/05/93
Defense lawyers discuss motives of 2 who surrendered: One woman had mission, the other wanted to keep her company, attorneys say
By Pete Slover / The Dallas Morning News
WACO-Defense lawyers explained Thursday why two Branch Davidian women-both in their 70s-walked out of the sect's compound and into federal custody, where they have remained since Tuesday.
Catherine Mattson, 75, had a mission, her lawyer said: to deliver an hourlong tape recording by sect leader David Koresh, to be broadcast by radio stations.
"She said she would prefer to be back inside,' said Waco lawyer Gary Coker, who also represented Mr. Koresh in a 1987 case arising from a shootout at the compound. That attempted murder charge was dropped after a trial ended in a hung jury.
The other arrested woman, 77-year-old Margaret Lawson, just wanted to keep her friend company, a second defense lawyer said.
"She wouldn't have come out except for Ms. Mattson,' said Oliver Kelly, a court-appointed attorney from Killeen. "They were dear friends.'
Both women remained jailed without bail Thursday, based on their role as potential witnesses to a siege that left four federal agents dead Sunday. Both had been charged shortly after their arrest with conspiracy, murder and attempted murder, but those cases were dropped Wednesday.
Earlier reports, based on interviews with federal officials, indicated that one of the children who had been released brought out the Koresh tape. It was aired Tuesday.
The women's lawyers said they were considering filing motions to have their clients freed, although federal law allows witnesses to be held to assure their presence at legal proceedings.
The only jailed compound resident with a criminal case pending is Delroy Nash, 28, a Jamaican arrested Sunday during a shootout with federal agents.
Mr. Nash listed himself with the court as unemployed, with no assets and an eighth-grade education. He faces a detention hearing Tuesday on charges that he attempted to murder a federal employee and illegally carried a .22-caliber pistol and 99 rounds of ammunition. His court-appointed lawyer did not return calls for comment.
McLennan County and federal officials would not disclose Mr.
Nash's whereabouts. Court documents state that he was being held without bail and could be served with legal papers at the McLennan County Jail in Waco.
Verne Jervis, a spokesman for the Immigration and Naturalization Service in Washington, said his agency could not take action against any of the foreigners in the compound until after the criminal proceeedings. "For those convicted, we would place detainer on them and seek to deport them following their serving their time,' he said.
A spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms said Thursday morning that another man, a 62-year-old resident of the compound, had been arrested on a firearms charge just before the Sunday raid that led to the siege.
But the son of a man identified in some news accounts as the arrested person denied in an interview that his father had been picked up. Also, state and federal court records reveal no such arrest, and a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in San Antonio said prosecutors had no information on any pending case against the man.
Federal prosecutors in Waco filed the motion to dismiss the charges against the two women, and a U.S. magistrate granted the request. They referred questions about the motion, which states no rationale, to U.S. Attorney Ronald Ederer in San Antonio. Mr. Ederer could not be reached.
At a news conference Thursday, an ATF spokesman refused to say whether the charges were dropped as a result of negotiations with Mr. Koresh. Court documents show the charges were dismissed "without prejudice,' meaning the government is free to refile the case later.
Ms. Mattson's attorney, Mr. Coker, confirmed that he met with his client for 90 minutes Thursday at the McLennan County Jail. "She spent the majority of that time preaching the Gospel,' he said.
A background sheet in Ms. Mattson's court file shows that she is from Providence, R.I., where she attended high school and business school. Because she did not request a court-appointed attorney, she did not fill out financial disclosures.
Mr. Coker said his client has severe vision problems. She moved to the compound about 20 years ago, he said, and has given most of her money to the sect and has no relatives that he knows of.
The other woman's lawyer, Mr. Kelly, said Ms. Lawson moved to the compound from Hawaii in about 1987 and has three daughters living on the West Coast.
Court records show that Ms. Lawson said she has a seventh-grade education, is unemployed and reported income of $509 in the last year. The records show she is of Japanese descent. Drivers license records show a woman at the compound with the same date of birth and surname, listed as Kiyoki Hayashi Lawson.
Mr. Kelly and Mr. Coker both said they were reluctant to disclose what little their clients had recounted about the events and conditions at the compound.
"All I can tell you,' Mr. Kelly said, "is that she is a charming lady in her 70s, who seemed to be in reasonably good spirits.'
Staff writer Frank Trejo contributed to this report.
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