16 Amish enter pleas in attacks

CLEVELAND - Sixteen men and women pleaded not guilty Thursday in beard- and hair-cutting attacks against fellow Amish in Ohio.

The 10 men and six women and their attorneys overflowed defense tables and the jury box as they entered the pleas before U.S. District Court Judge Dan Polster in response to an updated indictment.

The latest indictment added new allegations that the suspects tried to hide or destroy evidence, including a disposable camera, shears and a bag of hair from the victims.

The judge said he would keep the schedule set after the first indictment - a July 30 deadline for any plea change and Aug. 27 trial.

Joseph Dubyak, attorney for Linda Schrock, daughter of alleged ringleader Samuel Mullet Sr., said the related extended families are helping each other during the busy planting season with seven defendants still held on bond.

"I talked to my client and she's got her other members of her family and her children planting the crops in the field," he said outside court.

"They planted the oats and they are getting the corn ready. They are all pitching in, they are all working together. They have somebody conducting their religious services."

A feud over church discipline allegedly led to attacks in which the beards and hair of men and hair of women were cut, an act considered deeply offensive in Amish culture. The Amish believe the Bible instructs women to let their hair grow long and men to grow beards and stop shaving once they marry.