a033  0228  12 Aug 89
PM-Abortion Trial,0550
Anti-Abortion Protesters Found Liable for Conspiracy
By KATIA BLACKBURN
Associated Press Writer
    SEATTLE (AP) - An anti-abortion protester promised to appeal a
jury's finding that she and two other activists conspired to shut
down an abortion clinic that was the target of several arson fires
before closing its doors.
    ''It's a perversion of the First Amendment,'' Dottie Roberts said
after the jury ruled she violated federal racketeering laws and owed
civil damages to the clinic operators. ''This one's going to the
Supreme Court.''
    The jury ruled Friday that Curtis Beseda, serving 20 years in a
Texas federal prison for setting fire to the Feminist Women's Health
Center in Everett, violated the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt
Organizations statute through arson and extortion directed at the
clinic.
    Beseda, Roberts, 53, and Sharon Codispoti conspired to violate the
statute, the jury also found.
    Beseda, who told the jury earlier in the monthlong trial that he had
no intention of setting any fire until he heard God tell him to do
it, was ordered to pay $268,500 in civil damages. Beseda, Roberts and
Codispoti will share another $11,000 fine, as well as the clinic's
legal expenses and court costs.
    All damages can be trebled under the RICO statute. The plaintiffs
had sought $560,029.
    Two other defendants, Bonnie and Michael Undseth of Snohomish, were
acquitted.
    ''I know that I didn't do anything wrong,'' said Codispoti, of Lake
Stevens. ''At this point I'm taking my strength from that.
    ''If I had to to it all over again, I'd still go out and picket the
abortion clinic.''
    The lawsuit is only the second time the racketeering statute,
established to fight organized crime, has been used against abortion
protesters.
    Damages will go to several clinic employees and to the Feminist
Women's Health Center of Yakima, parent clinic to the one that
burned.
    ''I'm delighted,'' said William J. Bender, lawyer for the clinic,
who said he found the decision ''fundamentally important.''
    ''It should be a clear message to anyone'' who protests abortion
clinics in the future, he said.
    Lawyer Theresa Schrempp, representing Roberts, promised an appeal.
She said she could not understand how there could be a conspiracy if
jurors did not find her client had actually violated the racketeering
act.
    To win under the racketeering statute, one must show that an
enterprise adversely affected interstate commerce and constituted a
pattern of illegal acts such as arson, extortion, wire fraud,
robbery, kidnapping or murder, said Edmond Tiryak, the civil rights
attorney who tried a recent precedent-setting case in Philadelphia.
    There, 26 individuals were found to have committed multiple acts of
extortion at an abortion clinic. The clinic was awarded $100,000.
    The Philadelphia case was upheld on appeal in March and defendants
have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear it.
    The Everett clinic was burned three times between December 1983 and
April 1984, then closed its doors.
    ''A conspiracy is so hard to prove,'' said Diane Hale, a director of
the former clinic. ''I think it's really wonderful that we were able
to do it and the jury believed us. If we could do it, other people
could do it, too. This is a way they can protect themselves.''
    
 
AP-NY-08-12-89 0517EDT
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