Marshal faces new charge (In OKC Bombing Case)

The Oklahoman ^ | 2002-02-27 | By Robert E. Boczkiewicz

[SharpEye]

Marshal faces new charge

2002-02-27
By Robert E. Boczkiewicz
The Oklahoman

DENVER -- A second charge was filed Tuesday accusing the U.S. marshal in charge of juror security during Timothy McVeigh's trial of lying when he twice denied having an affair with an alternate juror.

Tuesday's indictment in Denver of Benny Bailey, a supervisory deputy marshal until he retired in 2000, adds the charge of perjury to last year's charge of making a false statement.

The additional charge was brought after a federal judge in Denver last year rejected a plea agreement on grounds the original charge did not sufficiently reflect the seriousness of Bailey's alleged crime.

The new charge accuses Bailey of lying under oath in a secret 1998 hearing to the judge who presided over the Oklahoma City bombing trials the previous year. The charge of making a false statement accuses Bailey of lying to his boss, Marshal Tina Rowe.

Prosecutors alleged Bailey began a sexual affair with an alternate juror shortly after McVeigh's trial ended in June 1997. As an alternate, the juror did not take part in deciding whether McVeigh was guilty.

The indictment said Bailey told the McVeigh trial judge he spoke by telephone about 15 times with the juror and met her twice for dinner. Prosecutors said the two actually called each other more than 350 times between June 1997 and May 1998, and the pair "became involved in an intimate relationship that involved repeated meetings" at Bailey's home.

Under terms of last year's rejected plea agreement, Bailey was likely to have been sentenced to no more than six months in prison. The sentence for perjury specified in sentencing guidelines has a greater minimum sentence.

Both charges carry a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, but the actual sentences would be much less because of the range specified in sentencing guidelines.

McVeigh was convicted June 2, 1997, of murder and conspiracy for the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people. He was executed in June.

CONTRIBUTING: The Associated Press

[OKCSubmariner]

This story was just posted tonight on FR and is very relevant to this thread and to my reply #7. The fact this guy was a supervisor further heightens my suspicions that the prosecutors had a direct pipeline into the juror deliberations- a concern I raised in reply #7.

Timothy McVeigh's Jury Supervisor Charged with Perjury and False Statements

WWW.USDOJ.GOV | FEBRUARY 26, 2002 | Department of Justice

Posted on 2/28/02 10:11 PM Pacific by valis

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2002

WWW.USDOJ.GOV

CRM

(202) 514-2008

TDD (202) 514-1888

FORMER DEPUTY UNITED STATES MARSHAL CHARGED

WITH PERJURY AND FALSE STATEMENTS

DENVER, COLORADO -- The Department of Justice announced that Benny Bailey of Denver, Colorado, formerly a Deputy United States Marshal for the District of Colorado, was indicted today by a federal grand jury in a two-count indictment charging him with perjury and false statements. If convicted, Bailey faces on each count up to five years in prison and a fine of not more than $250,000.

According to the indictment, Bailey helped supervise the jury in the 1997 trial of Timothy McVeigh, who had been charged with bombing the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. After the McVeigh trial concluded in June, 1997, Bailey became involved in an intimate relationship with an alternate juror from the trial. In 1998 the trial court and, subsequently, defense counsel for McVeigh, received anonymous facsimiles alleging that Bailey and the alternate juror had an intimate relationship during the McVeigh trial and that Bailey attempted to influence the outcome of the trial by persuading this juror of McVeigh's guilt.

As a result of these anonymous facsimiles, the U.S. Marshals Service and the McVeigh trial judge investigated whether or not any improprieties had occurred between Bailey and any of the McVeigh jurors.

In Count One, the indictment charges that Bailey lied to his supervisor, the United States Marshal for the District of Colorado, when he falsely denied having had an intimate relationship with any McVeigh juror at any time. In Count Two of the indictment, Bailey is charged with committing perjury when, during a hearing conducted by the trial judge, Bailey lied under oath about his contacts with the alternate juror in question.

The investigation, conducted by the Office of the Inspector General, found no evidence of improper contacts with the McVeigh jury during either the trial or jury deliberations. Rather the indictment charges Bailey with lying about a relationship with an alternate juror after the trial. The juror did not deliberate or participate in the verdict in any way. The full results of this investigation were provided to the Court, as well as to McVeigh and his counsel. Prior to McVeigh's execution, after reviewing these results, the Court determined that there were no grounds for concluding that the verdict in the McVeigh case had been improperly influenced or affected.

The case was investigated by the Office of the Inspector General, and is being prosecuted by the Public Integrity Section of the United States Department of Justice.

[OKCSubmariner]

BUMP

Please see reply #21.