Bag on Lawn Leads to Evacuation

Federal Courthouse Emptied While Building Is Searched

Evacuees socialize outside the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse on Constitution Avenue NW. (Photos By James A. Parcell -- The Washington Post)

The "suspicious package" that led to the evacuation of the U.S. courthouse here for three hours yesterday turned out to be a bundle of soiled clothes, probably left by a homeless person.

A court security officer found the black plastic bag on the front lawn a little before 9 a.m., minutes after a staff worker reported seeing a man in a trench coat toss a large bag over a construction fence. Later, a bomb-detection dog signaled that it smelled on the bag traces of a chemical found in explosives, giving federal and local authorities reason to worry -- and to order everybody out. The evacuation provided most court staff, judges, defendants and a roster of prominent lawyers a leisurely chance to chitchat, gossip and enjoy the sunny weather.

Evacuations at the courthouse are rare, but U.S. Marshal George B. Walsh said his office must act with caution in light of the terrorism threat. "We're not going to play a game of roulette or craps out here with people's lives," he said.

The incident turned a three-block area around the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse at 333 Constitution Ave. NW into a combined street festival and bar association convention. As the crowd waited, people from all walks and strata of the legal community rubbed shoulders and convened mini-reunions.

Defense attorneys and prosecutors in the CIA leak case were gathering for a key pretrial hearing when the building was evacuated about 9:40 a.m., pushing Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the lead prosecutor, and the defendant, Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, into the same small plaza area with court clerks, typists and secretaries.

About an hour later, court security officers and federal marshals ordered everyone to move farther away while they analyzed the package more thoroughly and swept the courthouse for bombs. That led lawyers and defendants in the court's high-profile cases to retreat to a partly shaded concrete patio at the Labor Department down the block on Constitution Avenue. The gathering looked more like a cocktail party than an extended fire drill.

Downtown developer Douglas Jemal and his leasing executive, Blake Esherick, standing trial on charges of bribing a top D.C. government contracting official, wound up steps from Fitzgerald's prosecution team. With their shaved heads, Jemal and Esherick stood out as they jawed with friends and defense counsel and munched on bananas that Jemal's daughter brought.

Jemal's attorney, Reid H. Weingarten, and the lead prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark H. Dubester, stood on a nearby corner kidding each other and discussing the trial schedule. Later, Weingarten greeted judges and friends in front of an impromptu lunch buffet set out on the C Street curb for the Jemal defense team -- sandwiches and sodas from Potbelly Sandwich Works.

"Hey, how are you?" Weingarten said to a long-lost pal who had sought him out. "Grab a sandwich!"

During the evacuation, the judges were escorted through the crowd by deputy marshals to a "secure location" inside the D.C. Superior Court across the street. Eventually, the secure location must have grown tiresome -- several judges were spotted one by one quietly joining little clutches of friends outdoors.

"Some of us snuck out because it was such a nice day," said one judge who spoke on the condition of anonymity.