Time: Mon Sep 29 10:02:00 1997 by primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id JAA12139; Mon, 29 Sep 1997 09:59:40 -0700 (MST) by usr02.primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id JAA12535; Mon, 29 Sep 1997 09:36:46 -0700 (MST) Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 09:36:19 -0700 To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar] Subject: SLS: OKC-Stage set for Act II (fwd) <snip> > >>From Denver Post: > >Stage is set for Act II > > By George Lane and Howard Pankratz > Denver Post Legal Staff Writers > > Sept. 28 - The trial of Oklahoma City bombing suspect Terry Nichols > begins Monday with a sharply different cast of characters than the first > trial. > > New lawyers, new witnesses and new evidence will set the Nichols trial > apart from that of co-defendant Timothy McVeigh, who was convicted in > June on 11 murder, conspiracy and weapons charges, and sentenced to > die. > > Interest is extremely high in the foreign press, especially journalists from > Germany, England and Spain, who believe more will be revealed this time > about the United States - and its shadowy far-right extremists - than at > the McVeigh trial. > > "They thought McVeigh was a loose cannon," said Wayne Wicks, > executive director of the trial's media consortium. "But they view Nichols > as more mainstream militia and feel there may be something here." James > Nichols, Terry's brother, has repeatedly denied that he or Terry were > members of the militia. Nichols said they found the militia too extreme. > > But the trial is likely to touch on some of the anti-government views held > by some of the Nichols family and a few of their acquaintances in > Michigan's Thumb region. Some of the new reporters at the trial are from > Michigan newspapers. > > Attending the trial throughout will be Nichols' mother, Joyce Nichols, of > Lapeer, Mich. Brother James Nichols and father Bob Nichols are > expected to be in Denver for abbreviated stays. > > Jury selection will proceed Monday in a fashion similar to that during the > McVeigh case. More than 400 potential jurors recently reported to the > Jefferson County Fairgrounds to answer questions before the actual jury > selection. > > Likely to be called as witnesses once testimony begins are Decker, > Mich., neighbors of the Nichols, including Phil Morawski. > > A farmer and "rural chaplain" who counsels beleaguered farmers, > Morawski expects to testify as a defense witness in Terry Nichols' behalf. > > Morawski has been in Denver once before - to testify as a defense > witness during the penalty phase of the McVeigh trial. But Morawski > never made it to the witness stand. At the last moment, according to > Morawski, McVeigh attorney Richard Burr decided U.S. District Judge > Richard Matsch might interpret Morawski's testimony as a veiled threat. > > Morawski was going to testify that he was concerned the United States > might be the target of suicide bombings carried out by angry farmers if > McVeigh was sentenced to die. > > "Some people believe it is a little extreme," Morawski said of his > concerns. "But it is not if you know these people." Morawski's scenario in > which a series of courthouses are blown up by suicide bombers in the > months and years after the McVeigh death sentence is spelled out in > Morawski's dissertation called "The Letter." The attacks are carried out > by farmers who have been immersed in anti-government and anti-Jewish > literature and regularly attend meetings where McVeigh and the Montana > Freemen are discussed. > > "Most of those at the meeting believe Tim is one of them and was > framed," Morawski writes. > > Wicks said he fielded a call recently from people who described > themselves as militia members from Montana upset about their inability to > gather in front of the federal courthouse during the Nichols trial. > > Law enforcement officials say vigilance around the courthouse remains at > high levels. > > According to Tina Rowe, the U.S. Marshal in Denver, federal, state and > local law enforcement and intelligence agencies "continually evaluate and > re-evaluate" the situation at the federal courthouse and "make adjustments > of security accordingly." The huge concrete barricades erected for the > McVeigh trial continue to ring the courthouse with federal and local police > patroling the perimeter in visible numbers. > > All the streets, and most of the sidewalks, around the courthouse remain > open. And only a few parking lots have been closed to the public. > > Butch Montoya, director of Public Safety for Denver, said law > enforcement agencies "will staff this trial with the same intensity that we > staffed" the McVeigh trial. Police will be visible on horseback, > motorcycle and car. > > The high visibility is there by design, said Montoya. > > "It creates an atmosphere of security not only for the court but for the > hundreds of federal workers that work in those buildings - the Customs > House, the old Post Office and the Federal Building - as well as the > business people that also commute and work downtown," he said. > > There also will be "an unseen presence ... whether undercover or > whatever," > > Montoya said. > > No one is sure just how long the trial will go, but estimates are that it >will finish around Christmas. Both sides are mum on the number of witnesses > they will call. > <snip> ======================================================================== Paul Andrew Mitchell, Sui Juris : Counselor at Law, federal witness B.A., Political Science, UCLA; M.S., Public Administration, U.C. Irvine : tel: (520) 320-1514: machine; fax: (520) 320-1256: 24-hour/day-night email: [address in tool bar] : using Eudora Pro 3.0.3 on 586 CPU website: http://supremelaw.com : visit the Supreme Law Library now ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776 : this is free speech, at its best Tucson, Arizona state : state zone, not the federal zone Postal Zone 85719/tdc : USPS delays first class w/o this _____________________________________: As agents of the Most High, we came here to establish justice. We shall not leave, until our mission is accomplished and justice reigns eternal. ======================================================================== [This text formatted on-screen in Courier 11, non-proportional spacing.]
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