SACRAMENTO -- Because two men have just been charged, there will be little or no public movement for at least six months in the case accusing those two and 10 others of plotting the violent overthrow of the communist government in Laos.

In a new indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Sacramento on Sept. 17, brothers Jerry Yang, 58, and Thomas Yang, 47, both of Stockton, were named as conspirators along with the 10 who were indicted two years and four months ago.

All 12 defendants have pleaded not guilty to the new indictment.

Attorneys Bruce Locke and Peter Kmeto, for Jerry Yang and Thomas Yang, respectively, told U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. that they needed at least six months to sort through the 85,000 documents and hundreds of hours of audio and video recordings of surreptitiously taped conversations that have already been turned over by prosecutors to the defense. There will be other evidence specific to the Yangs that will be added to the pile.

Lead prosecutor S. Robert Tice-Raskin asked Damrell to set another court date three months out, but the judge set a status conference for March 15, saying he hoped that will give defense lawyers plenty of time to complete their review of the government's evidence so the pace can pick up.

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