Art professor's trial still in limbo

The trial of UB art professor Steven Kurtz, who was indicted for mail and wire fraud for allegedly illegally obtaining bacteria he used in his artwork, continues to idle in court as the popular teacher awaits the first of his pre-trial hearings.

According to Kurtz, both sides are currently waiting for the judge presiding over the case to rule on a number of motions the defense has filed.

In the meantime, there's no way of knowing exactly when this case will go to court, if ever.

"The courts work on the courts' schedule," said William Hochum Jr., assistant U.S. attorney handling the prosecution for this case. "At this point, they just haven't been decided."

The judge's rulings on the motions will ultimately decide whether or not the case will go to trial and what direction it will take, Kurtz said.

"This process can take a very long time, since the judge can take as much time as he pleases," Kurtz said. "The deadlines are all artificial. He can decide to dismiss the case, have more hearings or send me to trial. If it's the first or the third, there will be an appeal and the case will continue in pretrial for at least another year."

Another factor slowing down the judicial process is the fact that Dr. Robert Ferrell, the chairman of the University of Pittsburgh's human genetics department and Kurtz's co-defendant, is very ill. His defense attorney, Efrem M. Grail, has requested that federal prosecutors drop the charges against Ferrell because his illnesses render him unable to act or appear in his own defense.

"So far, there hasn't been any kind of action taken with respect to that request," Hochum said. "The next step would be for his lawyer to supply to government, and perhaps to court, medical records that would describe and discuss this medical condition and prognosis."

While not a common request from defendants in federal court, the U.S. attorney's office has dealt with this before and said they will handle it with prudence.

"In my experience I've had requests for defendants made who've suffered serious medical condition, and I have granted that request," Hochum said. "We actually had a case where a gentleman had a stroke after his indictment. On humanitarian grounds we dismissed the case, because the person couldn't assist in his own defense. With Ferrell, once all necessary information is supplied to government they will determine whether the defense lawyer's statement is supported by the record."

Until then, Kurtz continues to teach at UB and has no plans to leave UB anytime in the near future. Kurtz was arrested last May for the possession of bacteria cultures he kept in his house for his unique artwork. Local police discovered the bacteria while investigating the May 2004 death of Kurtz's wife, Hope, who died in her sleep.

Originally, police and hazardous materials teams believed the cultures, which they referred to as "biological agents," played a role in Hope's death. That theory was proven false, but early in the investigation a joint terrorism task force was brought in and Kurtz quickly found himself under scrutiny for charges of bio-terrorism.

After a federal investigation, the bio-terrorism allegations were dropped and Kurtz was indicted on charges of mail fraud and wire fraud for illegally obtaining his samples of bacteria.

"On this case, the feds have gone from terrorism to protecting the public safety to this petty charge," Paul Cambria, lead attorney for Kurtz's defense team, told The Buffalo News.

Since the indictments, support for Kurtz has come from both inside and outside the UB community.

President John Simpson gave his support in June 2004 in a statement to all faculty.

"I want to state very clearly that the exercise of academic and intellectual freedom by all of our faculty members is fully supported by me and by this university," Simpson wrote.

The UB art department has also made it clear it fully supports Kurtz as he faces these charges.

"As far as the faculty, everybody is in agreement and support of him. There hasn't been any dissention as far as that," said Becky Koenig, assistant to the chair of the art department. "It's never been a question of whether or not we support him. We're all unified in our support of Steven Kurtz."

Many students also say they support Kurtz and believe the charges against him are without merit.

"They're making an example out of him, and that's just sad," said Alyssa Crick, a senior communication design major. "The feds have this attitude of 'Let's just charge him with something so we don't look like fools.' Professor Kurtz is the last person who should go to prison, and they're punishing him for their overreaction."

Nikki Gorman, a junior communication design major who had Kurtz as an advisor, also vouched for him.

"He's the nicest guy and really made himself available to me," Gorman said. "This whole thing is ridiculous. It's just too much for him to handle, he's been coping with grief. The fact that they would lock him out of his house and indict him after his wife died absolutely broke my heart."

Kurtz and Ferrell are accused of illegally scheming to use Ferrell's position with the University of Pittsburgh to obtain two bacterial agents that were found in Kurtz's home laboratory.

The two biological agents seized from Kurtz's home were bacillus atrophaeus and serratia marcescens, which are not considered to be highly dangerous substances. But Hochul said Ferrell, who stated they were going to be used in research at his university, purchased the substances under false pretenses.

The bacteria were part of a recent art installation by Kurtz's group, the Critical Art Ensemble. According to the group's Web site, it has "very publicly and legally performed scientific processes to demystify them and make them accessible to audiences."

While no dates are currently set for pre-trial hearings, Kurtz said he would continue to teach at UB throughout the trial.

"I'm still teaching and I plan to continue teaching here. I'll just miss some classes if I have to appear in court," Kurtz said. "It's business as usual for me, except I can't do as much of my own work anymore. I will, however, continue to work with the Critical Art Ensemble on biotech projects as the case progresses."