Not Guilty Plea Entered for Furrow : Courts: Defense lawyers now have to convince federal prosecutors not to seek the death penalty in the case against the white supremacist.

The biggest hurdle facing Buford O. Furrow Jr.’s lawyers in the coming weeks will be trying to persuade federal prosecutors not to seek the death penalty for the white supremacist accused of shooting up the North Valley Jewish Community Center and killing a Filipino American postman.

U.S. District Judge Richard A. Paez, selected at random Monday to preside over Furrow’s trial, will probably ask prosecutors to disclose their intentions before he decides any other significant legal issues, say lawyers familiar with federal death penalty cases.

Furrow, wearing a bright orange jumpsuit reserved for prisoners housed in special custody at the nearby Metropolitan Detention Center, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Stephen J. Hillman on Monday to enter a plea in connection with his indictment on charges of killing the postman, Joseph Ileto, using a firearm in a crime of violence and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

“Your honor, we do not intend to enter a plea at this time,” Deputy Public Defender Sean Kennedy told the magistrate, without saying why. Hillman then ordered that a not guilty plea be entered for Furrow.

In response to questions from the judge, Furrow said he understood his constitutional rights and the charges against him and he waived his right to have the indictment read publicly in court.

The proceedings were observed from the spectators’ gallery by Ileto’s brother and two sisters. They declined to talk to reporters.

Under Justice Department protocol, any decision to seek the death penalty must by approved by Atty. Gen. Janet Reno.

But first, Furrow’s lawyers will get a chance to make written and oral presentations to U.S. Atty. Alejandro N. Mayorkas and his Los Angeles staff. Failing that, the defense team can take its case to Mayorkas’ superiors at the Justice Department in Washington.

Presumably, the defense will cite a host of mitigating factors, including evidence that the 37-year-old Furrow sought to have himself committed to a mental hospital near Seattle last year. He wound up pulling a knife on staff members and served a jail term for assault.

“The whole presentation process is very weird because you plead for your client not to be sentenced before he’s ever been convicted,” said Las Vegas criminal defense attorney David Z. Chesnoff.

Chesnoff, who represented a defendant in the most recent death penalty case prosecuted in Los Angeles federal court, said pretrial presentations are usually thorough and include everything from psychological work-ups to letters from friends and family members.

“It can be a very lengthy process,” he added.

Los Angeles attorney Michael D. Abzug, who represented another defendant in the same case, agreed, although he said defense lawyers might be reluctant to reveal much of their case if they believe that prosecutors already have made up their minds.

The government agreed not to seek the death penalty in the case against Chesnoff’s and Abzug’s clients when they agreed to enter conditional guilty pleas, which are being appealed.

By coincidence, Abzug’s co-counsel in that case was Kennedy, Furrow’s lawyer. Kennedy and his partner, Deputy Public Defender Marilyn Bednarski, have declined to talk to reporters about the current case.

But Abzug, who said he knows Kennedy well, speculated that the public defender is probably busy gathering “all the mitigating evidence he can find” in preparation for a presentation to prosecutors.

After that, he said, “it is pretty obvious” that the defense will mount some kind of psychological defense either in the guilt phase of the trial or in the penalty phase if it comes to that.

The other possibility is that Furrow could agree to a deal to plead guilty to the charges in exchange for a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

“Sean will have his work cut out for him given the circumstances of this case,” said Abzug, who described Kennedy as a highly skilled defense lawyer.

Death penalty cases are rarities in the federal court system, although two are currently pending in Los Angeles. One involves an inmate accused of killing a guard at Lompoc federal prison, and the other involves two suspected members of the Mexican Mafia accused of murder in a racketeering scheme.

A decision to seek the death penalty against Furrow for the murder of Ileto will force a change in the way the trial would otherwise be conducted.

Under federal procedures, Paez will be required to summon a larger than normal pool of prospective jurors because it is a capital case.

Special discovery rules also apply, according to lawyers familiar with the process. The prosecutors have to disclose the “aggravating” facts that they plan to present at trial concerning the defendant’s conduct.

“I’m sure there’s going to be a big battle over Furrow’s views on race,” Abzug said.

The next development in the Furrow case will be a status conference at which Paez will probably raise the death penalty issue with prosecutors.

Under federal rules, defendants are normally entitled to a trial within 70 days of their indictment. That deadline was waived at Furrow’s arraignment because of the complex nature of the case. Several lawyers who practice in the federal court said a trial is not likely before next year.

The U.S. attorney’s office has assigned a veteran of its major crimes unit, Michael Terrell, to prosecute Furrow along with the head of the civil rights section, Michael Gennaco, and another civil rights prosecutor, Caroline Wittcoff. Prosecutors will also be assisted by a member of the Los Angeles County district attorney’s staff who will be specially designated as an assistant U.S. attorney for the trial.

After his federal trial, Furrow will face state charges of murder, five counts of attempted murder, and carjacking, which also could carry the death penalty.

Prosecutors say that Furrow walked into the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills midmorning Aug. 10 and began firing randomly, wounding three small boys, a teenage girl and a 68-year-old female receptionist.

He allegedly fled the scene in a van loaded with weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition, abandoned the vehicle a short distance away and then carjacked a sedan at gunpoint in a shopping center.

Authorities say that he next drove to Chatsworth, where he approached Ileto and asked him if he could mail two letters, then pulled out a Glock 9-millimeter pistol and shot Ileto nine times.

Furrow eluded a manhunt by taking an $800 cab ride from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, where he turned himself in to the FBI the next morning after seeing his mug shot on a casino television screen.

Sources said he told FBI agents that he shot up the Jewish community center in “a wake-up call for Americans to kill Jews” and that he had scouted other Jewish institutions in Los Angeles for attack before settling on the Granada Hills facility.