Prosecutors write to Ashcroft about lack of cooperation by feds
Posted: October 11, 2003
3:00 p.m. Eastern
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
Oklahoma prosecutors have warned Attorney General John Ashcroft a lack of cooperation by the federal government has ''hamstringed'' the prosecution and jeopardized the state bombing case against Terry Nichols to the point that it's on ''the brink of dismissal.''
In a letter to Ashcroft released on Friday, Oklahoma County District Attorney Wes Lane says an Oklahoma judge may dismiss the case against Nichols because his defense team has not been allowed to depose federal government witnesses.
''It is an unfortunate circumstance that the state finds itself in the position of having fought for several years to bring this case to trial – and to finally be on the very eve of trial – only to find that the federal government can hamstring our prosecution by its refusal to cooperate,'' Lane wrote.
Nichols' defense attorneys plan to question dozens of current and former federal agents and three former U.S. attorneys before trial. They either interviewed witnesses who may testify, or they themselves will testify for the prosecution, reports the Oklahoman newspaper.
Several interviews have already been scheduled but Nichols' trial judge has repeatedly complained more could have been questioned already with more cooperation from the federal government.
''This ... process has been the subject of serious discussion and concern for over four months. ... If the federal government does not fully cooperate, this trial cannot proceed,'' the judge wrote in an order. ''To this point that cooperation is totally unsatisfactory.''
District Attorney Wes Lane warned Ashcroft is in his letter, the judge could throw out the death penalty, ban federal witnesses from testifying for the prosecution or ''outright dismiss the case, '' according to the paper.
Federal officials insist they are cooperating.
''We’re working diligently to find the witnesses and get them prepared,'' Robert McCampbell, the U.S. attorney in Oklahoma City, told the Oklahoman.
The judge has scheduled a hearing for Tuesday over the controversy.
Nichols, 48, was sentenced in 1997 to life in federal prison without the possibility of release after being convicted at his federal trial of the bombing conspiracy and manslaughter in the deaths of eight federal agents in the 1995 Oklahoma city bombing.
His state case focuses on the 160 others killed inthe 1995 attack, as well as the loss of an unborn girl.
Nichols' former U.S. Army buddy, Timothy McVeigh, was convicted of exploding the truck bomb that destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah federal building. He was executed in June 2001.
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