Posted on 01/03/2005 7:28:57 PM PST by wagglebee
OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma taxpayers spent almost $4.2 million to provide a defense for bombing conspirator Terry Nichols, paying for such things as books, seminars, lawn care, coffee sweetener and an alarm system.
Expenses filed by court-appointed defense attorney Brian Hermanson included $28.05 so Nichols could read the book, "The American Terrorist," an account of the life of Oklahoma City bombing mastermind Timothy McVeigh.
A $300 claim was filed for lawn care costs for one of the defense attorneys, whose $750-a-month rental house in McAlester was paid for by taxpayers during Nichols' trial. Coffee sweetener that cost $3.99 was among the other claims filed.
Details of the expenditures had been previously sealed by court order, but were opened Monday at the request of The Oklahoman, The Tulsa World and The Associated Press.
Hermanson did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
Nichols was convicted of 161 first-degree murder counts, but the jury could not agree on a sentence. A judge gave Nichols 161 life prison terms for his role in the April 19, 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building that killed 168 people.
McVeigh was executed in 2001 after his conviction on federal murder charges by a Denver jury. Nichols also was convicted on federal charges and sentenced to life in prison.
The bulk of the $4.2 million spent on Nichols' defense went to a team of attorneys headed by Hermanson, who was paid $185 an hour, out of which he paid office expenses.
That included thousands of dollars for computers and other equipment, much of which Hermanson agreed to return to Oklahoma County officials.
The defense expenses were in addition to the cost to the state of prosecuting the case against Nichols, who has been returned to federal prison in Colorado.
One claim filed by Hermanson in 2002 was for $2,742 to install an alarm system in his Ponca City law office. Other claims were for cleaning Nichols' clothing, buying him shoes, a shirt and paying for his stamps.
The state paid $50.19 for a law dictionary for Nichols. Hermanson also filed a claim for the best-selling book, "The Secret Life of Bees."
Other claims went for such things as cell phones for lawyers and investigators, cab fare, legal seminars, newspaper subscriptions, renting a storage unit, buying a vacuum cleaner and business cards.
The expenditures were over a six-year period and paid incrementally from the Oklahoma County court fund, which is funded by court costs, fines and fees.
He cost us a lot more than that. Several hundred lives if I remember correctly.
You're absolutely right!
NONE of that is authorized nor guaranteed by our constitution.
It was all written and passed by a bunch of misfit useless lawyer scums only to raise their own networth to millionaire status! Just ask the john-johns.
What a gigantic waste of money after he had already been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Feds.
So what else is new?
-good times, G.J.P.(Jr.)
What a gigantic waste of money after he had already been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Feds.
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Just another example of how our government has NO RESPECT FOR OUR MONEY -- THEY TAKE AT WILL, AND THROW IT AWAY as if it were an infinite resource. And the voters do not rebel -- just cannot figure it.
The book The Third Terrorist was absolutely fantastic. It convinced many people who previously thought it was all tinfoil hat time.
When the former director of the CIA, James Woolsely, is quoted as saying that that the world will owe the author, Jayna Davis a debt of gratitude for her research, you know it's a great book.
How do you propose the lawyer be paid then?
"How do you propose the lawyer be paid then?"
Let the FAMILY and FRIENDS of the accused/convicted pick up the tab. If the person is wrongly accused, surely they will have others who would be glad to help...after all, taxes are **all** of us helping--strangers--against our will. Used to be, those in prison pretty much had to rely on family for food, water and clothing...but that was way before our present and more humane--OVERLY humane--times and our modern country clubs for violent acts of homosexual domination....
Thought they could get a DP, and failed.
What if the person is a loner whose family has died?
Blurblogger, our Constitution guarantees everyone counsel. Everyone. And frankly I think it implies that the government has to pay for it if they can't afford it themselves. I don't think it would be constitutional to force family and friends to pick up the tab either; they are't the ones committing the crime.
I'm all with you about the country club prisons though. I've toured Alcatraz more than once and lamented that our prisons aren't still more like that.
How much has the BATF cost the us? With Ruby Ridge, Waco n’all That started this mess?
>>> we shouldn't be basing our judicial structure, such as public defense, on exceptional
cases like his.) <<<<
Soon as you change it for one. It will be changed for you!
BUMP
I want to know why they government (US or Oklahoma) just doesn't take him out back and put a bullet into his head?
Someday, I hope we see Jayna's story on the big screen.
It's sound logic, actually. Sorry you don't get it. Frankly it's ludicrous to saddle the friends with the tab in particular. I mean, immediate family I can understand, but anything past that is untenable. And what happens when that money runs out? Does the Constitution cease to apply when you run out of money?
But everyone that's not a member of his family or a friend should pay millions to defend this worthless piece of crap. Whew, it boggles the mind.
Sometimes the Constitution has a way of doing that to you. Besides, it is worth it if justice is served.
To me it is somewhat akin to our practice of presumption of innocence. Because we have set our burden of proof in this country for criminal cases so high, we have far more guilty people walking than innocent people being convicted. Frankly that's the way it ought to be, but the cost is that justice is often not served.
Refer to Post #17.
I can't argue with the emotion behind the sentiment but I'm damn glad we live in a better country than that.
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