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Jury seated for Branch Davidian wrongful-death lawsuit
WACO, Texas (CNN) -- With opening statements set to begin Tuesday, a jury was seated Monday afternoon in the wrongful-death lawsuit against the federal government brought by relatives and survivors of the 1993 FBI raid on the Branch Davidians' compound. Six jurors and one alternate were selected to hear the case in an advisory role. Four women and three men were picked to sit on the panel. Juries are not typically used in federal civil cases, but U.S. District Judge Walter Smith may consider the jury's recommendation in issuing his ruling. The civil lawsuit arose from the deaths of about 80 Branch Davidians at the Christian apocalyptic sect's compound outside Waco.
Among those killed was David Koresh, the sect's charismatic leader. Seventeen children also died. The plaintiffs -- about 100 family members of those who died -- say the government used excessive force during the standoff which began on February 28, 1993 and ended on April 19, 1993. The defendant, the U.S. government, says it was justified in using armed force to end a 51-day standoff because the Branch Davidians left agents with no other choice. The impact of the caseThe case once again shines the spotlight on the government's actions during the raid and standoff that made headlines around the world and led to congressional inquiries. The congressional inquiries cleared the government of wrongdoing, but the Waco issue raised concerns whether about the government goes too far to quell dissenting voices. The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City occurred on the second anniversary of the Waco fire. Prosecutors have said the bomb plotters were angered by what happened in Waco. "What's important to us is that the truth come out about what the law enforcement was doing out there," said U.S. Attorney Michael Bradford, lead counsel for the government. "While everything wasn't done perfectly and lessons were learned, everything that was done out there was done in good faith under difficult circumstances." Michael Caddell, a Houston attorney representing about 50 estates, said the primary motivation for a number of plaintiffs is holding the government accountable, not getting money. "It's about acknowledgment of shared responsibility and a commitment that this will never happen again," he said. James Brannon, who is representing Koresh's grandmother and the estate of his three dead children, said the government was "careless" in planning the raid and throughout the standoff. "We're going to be trying to prove that the government was careless in the planning of the raid ... in the force that was use at the initial raid, and then further on down the line, in the way in which they handled the events on the 19th of April 1993," he told CNN earlier Monday. The background in briefOn February 28, 1993, agents of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms went to the Branch Davidian compound, called Mount Carmel, to investigate reports that the sect was hoarding weapons. In the ensuing gun fight, four agents and six Davidians were killed.
The standoff began and the FBI took over. FBI agents repeatedly asked the Davidians to surrender but the Davidians refused to bow to anyone's authority but God's. The FBI played music and sounds offensive to the sect. On the morning of April 19, an FBI tank rammed the compound's walls. The FBI sprayed tear gas and fired tear-gas canisters at the compound. About noon that day, there was an explosion in the compound and Mount Carmel went up in flames. To this day, who caused the fire remains controversial. The government says Koresh ordered his followers to set the compound ablaze to avoid surrendering to the government. The Branch Davidians say the fire was caused by the FBI's use of incendiary tear-gas canisters. A number of other aspects of the case also are in dispute. For instance, the families allege that the government at times initiated the shooting exchanges, pointing to flashes on a surveillance tape as proof of gunfire from the agents. The government argues those flashes were caused by sunlight glinting off debris in the compound. The main issues
The trial revolves around four issues: Smith last week removed a controversial question from the proceedings - whether government agents shot at Davidians during the final hours of the siege. He said the issue would not be addressed during the trial - or considered by the jury -- because a court-appointed expert fell ill and would be unable to attend the trial. Technically, the trial is a non-jury trial, but the judge has taken the fairly unusual step of calling for a jury to serve in an advisory capacity to help him sift through the evidence and make findings of fact.
Judges have discretion to ask that such juries be seated. But in this case, Smith does not have to accept the jury's findings, said Sol Wisenberg, a Washington attorney who has followed the case closely. Until 1946, when the Federal Tort Claims Act was passed, the government could not be sued because it has sovereign immunity, a doctrine that absolved actions that could be construed as wrong, said Wisenberg, a former Texas prosecutor. The Federal Tort Claims Act allowed citizens to sue the federal government -- but the law specified that trials against the government could not be decided by juries, Wisenberg said. Wisenberg said the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, Michael Caddell, faces a difficult task in proving government culpability because of the so-called "discretionary function" exception in the 1946 law. That exception says a government agent cannot be held liable for doing his or her duty. According to Wisenberg, the government will argue that it is the agents' job to decide whether to use force and how much force to use. "That's going to be real tough to overcome," he said. CNN National Correspondent Tony Clark and The Associated Press contributed to this report. RELATED STORIES: Reno questioned by Danforth for six hours; Davidians lawyer attacks Vector report RELATED SITES: Federal Bureau of Investigation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The U.S. Government faces lawsuit filed on behalf of the Branch Davidians charging wrongful death in the Waco tragedy. CNN's Tony Clark reports.
