January 31, 1996
Web posted at: 6:45 p.m. EST
From Correspondent Susan Candiotti and wire reports
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma (CNN) -- Prosecutors and defense lawyers in the Oklahoma City bombing case agreed Wednesday to drop Lawton as a potential site for the murder, conspiracy and terrorism trial.
The defense also complained angrily about new videos of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols (255K QuickTime movie) that show the suspects in handcuffs, chains and bulletproof vests. The attorneys said that's the kind of pretrial publicity that will make it impossible to find an unbiased jury in Oklahoma.
Defense attorneys contend media coverage will make potential jurors believe McVeigh and Nichols are guilty.
Meanwhile, lawyers on both sides agreed it would take at least $1 million in renovations to make the aging federal courthouse in Lawton suitable for the trial.
"I suspect it is greater than that," said U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch.
The courthouse, built shortly after the turn of the century, has poor security and limited seating for families and friends, media and the public.
Wednesday was the second day of the hearing to determine where the trial should be held. The previous judge in the case had selected Lawton, a military town about 90 miles southwest of Oklahoma City. The prosecution prefers Tulsa, about 90 miles northeast of the bombing location.
U.S. marshals let one video camera crew from CNN and one photographer from The Associated Press to photograph Nichols and McVeigh on behalf of all media.
The suspects were photographed as they left jail Wednesday morning to be driven to the courthouse. They were the first pictures of the two since the April 19, 1995, bombing that killed 169 people.
Nichols, wearing an orange jump suit, looked impassive as he waited with U.S. marshals to board a van for the trip. But Nichols' lawyer, Michael Tigar, said his client complained about the cameras to the marshals. Tigar quoted Nichols as saying a marshal replied, "There is nothing we can do about it. Someone is just trying to get elected."
However, the camera arrangement was made by U.S. marshals. McVeigh, wearing a khaki jump suit, quickly moved from a holding area and got in another van.
Aside from the issue of photographs, McVeigh appeared to be in good spirits Wednesday, joking with his defense attorneys.
The two suspects watched intently but without expression Tuesday as video news excerpts about the deadly attack and their alleged roles in it were played at the hearing.
The defense is trying to prove that taped comments that include, "He's a murderer and should be hanged" are proof that McVeigh and Nichols can't get a fair trial in Oklahoma. But a prosecution consultant testified Tuesday his surveys show that's not the case.
Inside the courtroom, the two suspects often seem to be in separate worlds.
Nichols, who rarely looks at McVeigh, sits stern-faced, looking straight ahead at witnesses during testimony.
By contrast, McVeigh grins broadly, passes notes and laughs with his attorneys. During a break Tuesday, he waved to his sister, Jennifer, and to Terry's brother, James. The light attitude upsets family members of the victims.
"Maybe he doesn't realize how this is," said Doris Jones, who lost her daughter in the bombing.(63K AIFF sound or 63K WAV sound)
"The nonchalance is unbelievable," said Diane Leonard, whose husband died.
"I don't think Timothy McVeigh has shown any remorse whatsoever, but he will in due time," said Edye Smith, whose two young sons died in the federal building's day-care center. Many family members wear buttons with pictures of relatives killed in the blast.
Meanwhile, sources have told CNN that McVeigh was wearing a T-shirt with words about shedding blood in defense of liberty on the day of the bombing.
The T-shirt reportedly featured a quote written by Thomas Jefferson in 1787, shortly after the American revolution: "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
McVeigh's lawyer, Stephen Jones, brushed aside any concern when asked how incriminating the T-shirt may be.
"Well, if Thomas Jefferson said it, I would not think it would be incriminating at all," Jones said.
But sources said the T-shirt is expected to be a key piece of evidence.
"What Jefferson is saying is that it is a fact that, in order to preserve freedom, you're going to have a situation where there is violence as a wake-up call, you might say, to the leaders," Jeffersonian scholar Steve Hochman said.
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