James Everett Dutschke is transported to a court hearing in Oxford Thursday morning. / (Angelina Mazzanti)
BY HAWLEY MARTIN
thedmnews@gmail.com
U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Allan Alexander stated Thursday that the U.S. has found sufficient evidence to keep James Everett Dutschke in the custody of the federal marshals during a preliminary hearing at the U.S. District Courthouse in Oxford.
“It appears to the court that there is probable cause to hold the defendant over,” Alexander said.
Although Dutschke maintains that he is innocent, his attorney George Lucas waived the right to a detention hearing.
Only one witness, special agent Stephen Thomason who represented the FBI, was required for the U.S. to find evidence to hold Dutschke.
Dutschke is charged with making and producing ricin as part of an investigation into poison-laced letters sent to President Obama, U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker and Mississippi judge Sadie Holland.
The FBI used a warrant to search Dutschke’s home in Tupelo on April 23 after he withdrew his initial consent during an interview.
Investigators found paper and address labels that matched those sent to Obama, Wicker and Holland, as well as other suspicious items.
Thomason stated that the turning point occurred when Dutschke removed personal items from his former martial arts studio on April 22.
“After he left the martial arts studio, he drove about 100 yards, stopped and discarded the items into a trashcan,” Thomason said.
The items included a ventilation mask, latex gloves and a box for a coffee grinder. The mask tested positive for ricin and Dutschke’s DNA, alongside another person’s DNA, but Dutschke’s DNA was the “main contributor.”
In addition, the FBI’s subsequent search of the martial arts studio found drain taps and a vacuum filter that also tested positive for ricin.
Throughout Thomason’s testimony, Dutschke could be seen shaking his head, and he even threw his hands in the air once.
Thomason stated that evidence prior to the seized items led the FBI to Dutschke.
Investigators had been told by the father of one of Dutschke’s former martial arts students that Dutschke had begun his classes with “anti-government rhetoric.”
Additionally, the FBI was able to obtain Paypal receipts confirming that Dutschke bought castor beans on eBay and receipts from the U.S. Postal Service confirming that the package was delivered to his home in Tupelo.
The FBI has phone records from Dutschke and his wife communicating via text message about cleaning their house prior to the FBI searching it.
The defense argued that the ricin in the letters was not lethal. If it were not, the charges against Dutschke could be dropped.
Only Holland’s letter reached its desired target, while the other two were intercepted.
The defense cited that since the clerk for Holland who opened the letter did not die, the ricin was not lethal.
“I certainly was not surprised with the outcome (of the court’s decision),” Lucas said after the closing statements and court was adjourned.
If convicted, Dutschke faces up to life in prison.
