Posted on 09/09/2001 8:19:20 AM PDT by MizSterious
Among them will be a former U.S. Senate aide who recalls Nichols complained about the federal government just two days before the Oklahoma City bombing.
"I was ... in shock," Lee Alexander said of recognizing the name of the caller after Nichols was arrested.
Prosecutors sought new witnesses to strengthen their case against Nichols in hopes of avoiding an outcome like the federal case. Nichols, at his federal trial, was convicted of the bombing conspiracy, but acquitted of direct blame for the April 19, 1995, attack.
Federal jurors also found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter, rather than murder, for the deaths of eight federal agents.
Nichols, 46, could go to preliminary hearing in late October or November. The state murder case covers the 160 other fatalities.
Nichols also is charged in the state case with conspiracy to commit murder, aiding in the placing of a bomb against a public building and first-degree manslaughter over the loss of an unborn baby.
Oklahoma County district attorney Wes Lane said Wednesday he will go ahead with the prosecution. He had considered dropping it.
"Accountability to the laws of the State of Oklahoma demands we stay the course," Lane said at a news conference at the memorial built on the site of the bombing.
First, though, the Oklahoma Supreme Court must resolve a dispute over how much Nichols' defense attorneys will be paid.
A referee for the Supreme Court will hear arguments Sept. 19.
The judge over the preliminary hearing will next meet with prosecutors and defense attorneys Oct. 9 to discuss the exchange of evidence.
At the preliminary hearing, District Judge Ray Dean Linder will listen to witnesses and then decide whether the evidence against Nichols is enough for a trial.
Testimony should take 10 days and will include such familiar witnesses as Nichols' ex- wife, Lana Padilla, and his longtime acquaintance, Michael Fortier.
Alexander, will testify that Nichols called to complain about the federal government's conflict with the Branch Davidians near Waco, Texas, in 1993.
Alexander recalls Nichols was particularly upset about the deaths of the Davidians' children and blamed then- Attorney General Janet Reno. Nichols also complained about gun laws.
Alexander was an assistant to then-U.S. Sen. Nancy Kassebaum of Kansas. Alexander worked in Topeka.
"I just wish I didn't have to make the trip down there," Alexander said of being a witness. "He probably will not get a fair trial in Oklahoma."
She would not discuss her recollection in detail. She said Nichols did not curse during the phone call.
The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was on the second anniversary of the deadly end of the government's standoff with the Davidians.
Another prosecution witness is fertilizer salesman Stuart Vogts, who works at the Mid- Kansas Co-op in Galva, Kan. He doesn't look forward to testifying but said "it is part of my duty, I think."
The Oklahoma City bomb was made of fertilizer and racing fuel and packed in barrels in the back of a rented Ryder truck.
Vogts recalls Nichols on Sept. 29, 1994, tried to buy fertilizer from him, but wanted more than the Galva co-op had. Vogts suggested Nichols try the co-op in McPherson, Kan., instead.
Nichols allegedly went to the co-op in McPherson and bought fertilizer there Sept. 30 and Oct. 18, 1994. FBI agents found a pink receipt for the first purchase in Nichols' home.
The salesmen at the McPherson co-op, however, were not certain the buyer -- who used the name "Havens" -- was Nichols. Vogts said he is positive of his identification although he admits "it's been a long time."
Other new witnesses include Jerry Knapp of Hickman, Neb., Ruth Hailey of Herington, Kan., and Sheryl Pankratz of Hillsboro, Kan.
Knapp remembers a call from Nichols on March 20, 1995, wanting a trailer to haul barrels.
Knapp made a note of the call on a calendar. Knapp said Nich- ols decided against the trailer when he learned it wasn't enclosed.
Prosecutors will allege Nichols was seeking a trailer to carry the bomb.
Hailey recalls seeing a Ryder truck parked behind Nichols' house in Herington in the days before the bombing. "That's all I can say," Hailey told The Oklahoman. "I don't know why I was going down that street."
Pankratz will testify about the letter Nichols hand- delivered to the Marion County, Kan., courthouse in March 1994 renouncing his U.S. citizenship.
In the letter, Nichols calls the federal government a "fraudulent, usurping octopus."
Pankratz, who still is a county employee, said she is reluctant to testify but will when called.
"It's my civic duty," she said.
Federal prosecutors wanted to use the letter against Nichols at his federal trial, but U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch refused.
On Wednesday, the district attorney said he is going forward primarily because he cannot guarantee Nichols will never succeed in his federal appeals.
"For me to ... dismiss this case, simply clinging to a hope that nothing further will ever spring up ... to place his (federal) conviction in jeopardy would, in my opinion, be irresponsible," Lane said. "I will not roll the dice on this issue. There is simply too much at stake."
Nichols has complaints pending before the U.S. Supreme Court and the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
He is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider its rejection of his appeal in light of an FBI foul-up. A decision is expected in October.
The FBI admitted in May finding thousands of bombing documents that should have been turned over to defense attorneys before Nichols' federal trial.
Nichols is complaining to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals about jury instructions at his federal trial. The federal appeals court on Friday agreed to let Nichols expand his complaint.
Nichols is expected to complain eventually to his federal trial judge about the FBI document mistake.
Matsch in June refused to stop the execution of bomber Timothy McVeigh because of the FBI problem. But the judge said, "Mr. Nichols is a separate matter and must be considered separately."
Someone calls their U.S. Senator--you know, the guy or gal we pay to represent us--and complains about illegal government behavior, and this somehow shows criminal intent? Note that further into the body of the story, the aide flatly states that no profanity was used, so apparently this was the kind of call we encourage every day on Free Republic. Do our calls to senators and representatives put us on some kind of "dangerous person" list, too, I wonder?
Local newsies have been harping on this phone call, too, insinuating that just by virtue of Nichols' complaints, it implies guilt. However, a good lawyer can pose just the opposite conclusion from this phone call: if he were going to bomb a federal building, wouldn't that call lead the investigators directly to the caller? He gave his name fer cryin' out loud!
My husband, playing devils advocate, suggests even another possibility--what if, he wonders, the call was made by someone else, someone who was deliberately intending to create a trail to Nichols?
This is all very intriguing, but the most chilling point being made in this story is that if we express our dissatisfaction with something our government is doing (such as incinerating a church full of men, women and children), even if we do so while doing a citizen's duty in calling our elected representative, that this suggests some sort of criminality.
Complaining about our government, folks, is well on its way to becoming a criminal act.
This "charge" has been made many times before to "strengthen" a case. Not only was the person guilty of X, Y, or Z, but he also had "anti-government literature" in his possession! (You can almost hear the gasp in the breathless reporter's voice.) If the people (sheeple) hear this kind of nonsense enough on the evening news, they'll come to believe that complaining about the government is, in fact, against the law. Passing such a law at that point will likely be easy--all they'll have to do is point to the Murrah Building and trump up a story on how dangerous such people are.
The defense will get to do the same, which is precisely why the Feds will never allow the trial to occur.
Or a lot of gagging going on in Terry Nichols' cell just before he expires.
We're on a list, alright. They just can't do anything about it---YET.
prolly end up a "1st degree hate crime".
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