|
22 prospective Nichols jurors to be evaluated Friday
October 23, 1997
Web posted at: 9:53 p.m. EDT (0153 GMT)DENVER (CNN) -- Twenty-two prospective jurors will be evaluated Friday as the judge and lawyers in the Oklahoma City bombing trial of Terry Nichols consider who should be chosen for the jury pool.
At least 64 are needed before a jury of 12 and six alternates can be selected. Forty potential jurors were chosen in previous weeks.
Prosecutors say the jury likely will be seated next week.
Six prospective jurors were questioned Thursday, including a former National Football League player who admitted he hurried through a jury questionnaire because he didn't see jury duty as "doing anything for the people who were in that building, regardless of who was responsible."
He also said he had heard that the judge "is pretty tough. But he's going to have to come and get me, so I'm going to tell him the truth on this form."
U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch replied, "Well, here we are."
The man said he had good reason to keep an open mind if he is selected. He said he was acquitted in a criminal case and understands the importance of a fair jury.
Asked if he could look Nichols in the eye and tell him he would get a fair trial, the former NFL player looked directly at Nichols and said "Terry, I would give you a fair trial."
The last person interviewed Thursday, the 102nd in the 19 days of questioning so far, was a mother of five with a Ph.D. in clinical psychology who runs a children's psychiatric unit at a state mental health facility.
She said she once visited the bomb site, which is now a memorial. "I saw a lot of people walking around," she said. "It was very sad. Everyone was very quiet."
Nichols, 42, is charged with murder, conspiracy and weapons-related counts in the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building that killed 168 and wounded hundreds of others. If convicted, he faces the death penalty.
His co-defendant, Timothy McVeigh, was convicted of identical charges in June and sentenced to die. McVeigh is appealing the conviction and sentence.
T H E B O M B I N G / C N N S T O R I E S / L I N K S
CNN Community
Related feature:
|
Sound off on our message boards You said it... |
|
© 1997 Cable News Network, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.