June 11
OKLAHOMA:
3rd day of deliberations continues in Oklahoma City bombing trial
3 years to the day that Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was executed,
jurors continued deliberating Friday whether his conspirator should die or
spend his life in prison.
It took the 12-member panel only 5 hours on May 26 to convict Terry
Nichols of 161 counts of 1st-degree murder for deaths in the April 19,
1995, blast at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.
On Friday, jurors resumed sentencing deliberations, which have already
covered 12 hours over 2 days. McVeigh was executed on June 11, 2001, at a
federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind.
Victims' family members who believe Nichols should get the death penalty
said they are concerned the jury is taking longer to decide Nichols'
sentence than it did to find him guilty.
"You might say we're disappointed. It's been a day and a half," said Joyce
Cleveland, 64, whose daughter, Pamela Argo, died in the federal building's
Social Security Administration office.
Survivor Priscilla Salyers is concerned the lengthy deliberations could
mean jurors will not reach a decision.
"I think there's some kind of a problem," Salyers said. "I can't imagine
being on this jury. It's got to be hard to do."
Judge Steven Taylor has said the jurors will take as much time as they
need.
"The length of your deliberations and your deliberation schedule is up to
you," Taylor told the panel as the sequestered panel resumed deliberations
Thursday morning.
If jurors can't reach a decision, Taylor will be required to sentence
Nichols to life in prison.
Members of Nichols' family, including mother Joyce Wilt, sister Suzanne
McDonnell and ex-wife Lana Padilla waited at the courthouse. Victims'
relatives were at a nearby church.
Nichols was convicted in a federal trial in 1997 of conspiracy and the
involuntary manslaughter of eight federal agents killed in the blast. A
federal jury in Denver deliberated for 13 1/2 hours over 2 days before
deadlocking over whether Nichols should be given a death sentence or a
life term.
The state trial is for the others who were killed, including one victim's
fetus. Prosecutors brought the state case specifically to seek the death
sentence.
U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch then sentenced Nichols to life in
prison without the possibility of parole.
(source: Associated Press)
