In the courtroom, Brian Mendelsohn is known as the life saver, but at home he’s just known
dad as Sophomore Caida Mendelsohn and her father, Brian Mendelsohn, visited Spain during February break in 2011.
BY AUDREY BAXTER
audreybaxter@csdecatur.net
her father is nowhere to be seen. He’s at the office again, buried in files, and won’t leave until he has reached one vital goal: to save his client’s life. Caida’s father, Brian Mendelsohn, is a federal defense attorney. He works on trials
S
ophomore Caida Mendelsohn stares at a plate of half-burnt pasta, not hungry at all. It’s a regular school night, but
involving murders, bank robberies and any other federal offenses. “Ultimately, I liked the idea of fighting for the little guy,” Brian said. In June 2003, Brian was handed his biggest case: defending Eric Rudolph. In 1996, Rudolph bombed Centennial
Olympic Park during the Olympic games in Atlanta. One woman was killed, and 111 were injured. Rudolph did it again less than a year later, this time at an abortion clinic in Sandy Springs. Still going strong, he bombed
two more places: a gay and lesbian nightclub in Atlanta and another abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama. Once the FBI charged Rudolph with
the bombing in Alabama, they linked that incident to the three others and put him on the FBI’s ten most wanted list, offering a $1 million reward to anyone who could find him. “It was a big, long manhunt,” Caida’s father said. On May 31, 2003, Rudolph was captured by police when found by a trashcan
A TIMELINE OF MENDELSOHN’S MOST FAMOUS CLIENT July 26, 1996
Rudolph bombs Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta during the summer Olympic games
February 21, 1997 Another bomb explodes at the Other-
side Lounge, a gay and lesbian nightclub
January 16, 1997 Rudolph bombs an abortion clinic in a
suburban area of Sandy Springs 44 CARPE DIEM • DECEMBER 2011
January 29, 1998 Rudolph bombs another abortion
clinic in Birmingham, Alabama
Photo courtesy of Caida Mendelsohn
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