Time: Wed Oct 01 05:54:16 1997
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Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 05:45:22 -0700
To: (Recipient list suppressed)
From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar]
Subject: SLS: OKC-Court: Reno acted properly

Yes, but did she follow due process of law
when she executed children at Waco, Texas?

/s/ Paul Mitchell
http://supremelaw.com


<snip>
>
>>From the Denver Post:
>
>Court: Reno acted properly
>
> By George Lane
> Denver Post Staff Writer 
>
> Oct. 1 - U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno did not violate official
> procedures in deciding to seek the death penalty for Oklahoma City
> bomber Timothy McVeigh and and his alleged accomplice, Terry
> Nichols, the federal court of appeals ruled Tuesday.
>
> Attorneys for Nichols, who is on trial in U.S. District Court in Denver,
> have argued that Reno violated procedures for deciding whether to seek
> the death penalty and therefore Nichols should not face that sentence if he
> is convicted of the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah
> Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
>
> In federal cases, the U.S. attorney for the area must give defense lawyers
> a "reasonable opportunity" to present any facts, including mitigating
> factors for the client. The prosecutor then submits forms to the U.S.
> Department of Justice. The government followed that procedure.
>
> "A committee within the Department of Justice then evaluates the
> information and makes a written recommendation to the attorney general
> whether to seek the death penalty," the appeals court said.
>
> Michael Tigar, Nichols' lead defense attorney, acknowledged in his
> challenge that the defense team was given an opportunity to present
> mitigating factors. But he said it was a meaningless exercise because
> Reno already had made up her mind that the death penalty would be
> sought.
>
> Tigar's claim was based on remarks Reno made at a news conference
> with President Clinton hours after the truck bomb destroyed the
> Oklahoma City federal building, killing 168 people and injuring more than
> 500. Reno said if the death penalty was available it would be sought.
>
> U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch, presiding at the Nichols trial, ruled
> earlier that Reno had not violated the rules she established for seeking the
> death penalty. The ruling from the 10th Circuit Tuesday upheld that
> decision.
>
> Tigar had no comment on the ruling after the second day of jury selection
> in the Nichols trial. McVeigh, who was convicted of the same charges
> earlier this year, is appealing his death sentence.

========================================================================
Paul Andrew Mitchell, Sui Juris      : Counselor at Law, federal witness
B.A., Political Science, UCLA;  M.S., Public Administration, U.C. Irvine
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