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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Defense lawyers want to know if the government was worried that a 1998 sketch of fugitive bombing suspect Eric Rudolph made him look too much like Jesus.
In a recent court filing, Rudolph's attorneys asked prosecutors to hand over any evidence of alterations to composite drawings or photographs of Rudolph to make him appear "unsympathetic or malevolent" to the public.
Authorities denied that any such changes were made.
Rudolph has pleaded not guilty to the bombing of a Birmingham abortion clinic that killed a policeman and critically injured a nurse. He is also accused in the deadly bombing at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. He was captured in May 2003 foraging outside a grocery store after more than five years as a fugitive. He is jailed without bond and his death penalty trial is scheduled for next spring.
The defense lawyers' request was based on a government behavioral assessment of the then-fugitive dated July 26, 1998, six months after the abortion clinic bombing. The defense quoted the assessment as saying that a composite sketch of a long-haired, bearded Rudolph "makes him appear handsome and sympathetic."
According to the defense, the government document continued: "His picture resembles a common likeness of Jesus. Since the accuracy of a composite is of no great evidentiary or investigate concern now, as we already know who he is and his photo has been published, we suggest making subtle changes to the sketch, emphasizing a degree of gauntness, stress, intensity and, with those, malevolence.
"A few subtle strokes of the artist's pen could accomplish this, and the updated sketch be re-released," the defense quotes the document as saying. The author of the quoted material is not named.
It is unclear whether any changes were made in the Rudolph sketches as suggested. The government did release two different Rudolph sketches — one of which depicted him with a slightly more intense, darker appearance — but both were apparently released at least several days before the change was suggested.
Prosecutors have not responded to the defense request filed Nov. 22, but an evidentiary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 8.
Rudolph's attorneys have previously argued that the government waged a media campaign to create a negative public image of Rudolph.
The government in July 1998 released two versions of a Rudolph sketch created by Marla Lawson, a forensic artist with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. One drawing was black and white; the other was in color and made his face appear lighter, with a wisp of a grin.
GBI spokesman John Bankhead said Tuesday the black-and-white sketch was done for the FBI and released before the color version, which Lawson did later as a prop during television interviews about her work. He said both were based on a witness description of Rudolph, not any desire to make the fugitive appear more threatening.
Both sketches were made public at least six days before the date on the government document that suggested changes to the composite. | 
