Feds Try to Link Rudolph to Pro-Life Activist

Federal prosecutors want to introduce evidence in suspected abortion clinic bomber Eric Rudolph's up-coming trial that he attended church services at a church were the pastor is a noted anti-abortion activist, although the pastor says he doesn't remember ever seeing Rudolph at the church.

Prosecutors said Rudolph's "expressed anti-abortion views and his association with anti-abortion activists will clearly help set the stage for the crime, give it context, and will help the jury understand the reasons" in court papers filed last week.

They want to introduce evidence that Rudolph was associated with a church in Benton, TN where Dr. John Grady, a pro-life activist serves as a lay leader. But Grady told reporters that he does not remember Rudolph ever attending the small congregation. "That certainly doesn't mean he didn't" attend, Grady said.

Grady said the prosecution's claim that his teaching could prompt someone to bomb an abortion clinic was "really stretching it."

See Also:
Prosecutors Allege Link Between Rudolph, Anti-Abortion Figure

Background:
The Eric Rudolph Case