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ATTORNEY: ROPE WAS UP TO SLOW LOS GATOS MOTORCYCLES
05/19/06 3:45 PDT

SAN JOSE (BCN)

The rope that clotheslined a motorcyclist in the hills above Los Gatos, putting him into a temporary coma, was strung across the roadway for safety reasons, according to the attorney for one of the three people charged in the case.

Donald Bryant, 62, Donna Olsen, 46, and Edward Anderson, 48, were arrested on Tuesday in connection with the May 6 incident that put their neighbor, motorcyclist Robert Barnes, in a coma for five days. Barnes also received more than 500 stitches and had several titanium plates inserted in his face, according to authorities.

Bryant and Olsen appeared in a San Jose courtroom today and outside the courthouse, Bryant's attorney Dennis Lempert said no witnesses link his client or the other two defendants to the rope that was strung across Loma Chiquita Road in unincorporated Los Gatos.

"No one saw who put the rope up,'' Lempert said.

The rope was tied across the road at the home where Anderson and Olsen live, according to prosecutor Leigh Frazier.

"Anderson owns the home where this was strung up,'' Frazier said.

Lempert also suggested the rope had a legitimate purpose.

"There's a problem with people racing up there ... the rope was up to try and slow people down,'' Lempert said.

According to Frazier, there was no justification for the defendants' actions. Each of the three defendants is facing two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

Barnes, visibly scarred and using a cane to walk, attended today's hearing he said he wanted to see all three defendants receive the maximum possible sentence, which is eight years in prison, according to Frazier.

"I don't think it was about me. I think it was about dirt bikes in general. It could have been anyone. It could have been (Anderson's) kid, he dirt bikes,'' Barnes said.