Appeals court reverses conviction in 2001 ecoterror arson that destroyed U. of Wash. building

Appeals court reverses Wash. ecoterror conviction

SEATTLE — A federal appeals court has ordered a new trial for a woman convicted of helping to carry out a 2001 ecoterror attack that destroyed the University of Washington’s Center for Urban Horticulture in Seattle.

Briana Waters was found guilty of arson for serving as a lookout during Earth Liberation Front attack and sentenced to six years in prison.

A unanimous three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that U.S. District Judge Franklin Burgess made several errors that raised questions about the fairness of her trial.

Prosecutors argued that Waters was connected to a cell of radical environmentalists that carried out attacks throughout the West from 1996 to 2001.