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Appeals court denies three requests to delay McVeigh trial
Jury selection to begin Monday
March 28, 1997Web posted at: 8:00 p.m. EST
DENVER (CNN) -- A federal appeals court on Friday denied three defense motions seeking to delay the Oklahoma City bombing trial, clearing the way for jury selection to begin Monday in the case against suspect Timothy McVeigh.
Defense attorney Stephen Jones' latest request -- his third in a week -- asked the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to postpone the murder and conspiracy trial to allow some of the publicity to fade.
Jones said the defense had reviewed the first 126 questionnaire responses from prospective jurors, and those "demonstrate that Mr. McVeigh simply cannot receive a fair trial under the circumstances as they presently exist."
"The answers to the questions contained within the jury questionnaire demonstrate that Mr. McVeigh will be convicted and sentenced to death, because the minds of prospective jurors have been irreversibly poisoned against him," Jones said in his motion.
Jones had earlier asked for more time to allow the defense to investigate the possibility that an international conspiracy led to the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building. The bombing -- considered the bloodiest terror attack ever on U.S. soil -- killed 168 people.
A separate motion asked for time to challenge the constitutionality of a new federal law enacted specifically to allow victims' relatives and survivors of the blast to view trial proceedings without losing their right to testify as "impact" witnesses in the penalty phase, if McVeigh is convicted.
The appeals court on Friday rejected all three motions.
McVeigh's former Army buddy, Terry Nichols, also faces murder and conspiracy charges in the case. He will be tried after McVeigh's trial.
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Related stories:
- McVeigh's attorney files new motion to delay trial - March 26, 1997
- Oklahoma bombing judge to let 'impact witnesses' see trial - March 25, 1997
- White supremacist novel key evidence in McVeigh trial - March 24, 1997
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