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Trial date set for Walker Lindh

John Walker Lindh

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) -- John Walker Lindh will face trial August 26 on 10 counts that stem from his fighting with the Taliban in Afghanistan, a federal judge ruled Friday in Alexandria, Virginia.

While U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis did not indicate how long jury selection would take, earlier this week lawyers involved in this case indicated it may only take a few days.

The 21-year-old Californian was arraigned Wednesday on charges of conspiring to kill Americans overseas, supporting al Qaeda and other terrorist groups and using firearms and destructive devices, including hand grenades, in crimes of violence.

Walker Lindh pleaded not guilty to all the charges at the federal court hearing. If convicted on all counts, he could be sentenced to three life terms plus another 90 years in prison.

Under the current timetable set Friday, the trial would be under way on September 11, 2002, the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon that killed nearly 3,000 people.

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George Harris, Walker Lindh's attorney, said the trial's overlap with September 11 -- and the anti-Taliban and al Qaeda emotions associated with that date -- is "prejudicial to our case."

"If I'm persuaded by the force of your argument, I may change it (but) I don't think it will make any difference," Ellis responded. "Special care will be taken to ensure that every juror has not formed an opinion."

Chief prosecutor Randy Bellows, an assistant U.S. Attorney, said his office currently has one file drawer of classified material related to the case but would be requesting much more.

Ellis scheduled an April 1 hearing to "define the scope of classified information to be used." Additional pre-trial hearings in June will deal with the designation and exchange of those materials, Ellis said.

Walker Lindh, wearing a green jumpsuit, and his parents remained silent throughout the 50-minute hearing.

Defense, prosecution asked for later start date

In ordering jury selection begin on August 26, Ellis turned down a second agreement between Walker Lindh's attorneys and prosecutors in which they recommended a September 16 start date.

Two days earlier, Ellis had rejected a joint defense and prosecution request that the trial be delayed until November.

Walker Lindh's attorneys hoped the delay would help diminish the intense media spotlight on their client. Prosecutors, meanwhile, complained about the difficulty of interviewing witnesses and gathering evidence in Afghanistan.

But Ellis said a November date was "too far" and "not appropriate."

Walker Lindh was captured by U.S.-allied Afghan forces in December, along with scores of other suspected Taliban and al Qaeda fighters, in northern Afghanistan. He was turned over to U.S. forces following a bloody prison uprising near Mazar-e Sharif, during which CIA operative Michael "Johnny" Spann and several Afghans were killed.

Walker Lindh is not charged with, nor is he believed to be directly involved in, Spann's death. But an indictment says he learned Osama bin Laden "had sent forth some 50 people to carry out 20 suicide terrorist operations against the United States or Israel" while at a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan.