August 14, 1995
From CNN Correspondent Robert Vito
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma (CNN) -- Prosecutors want to seek the death penalty in the Oklahoma City bombing. But the law is so new it may take years to find out whether it will stand up in court.
Just outside Terre Haute, Ind., behind a razor-sharp fence, sits the federal government's new death chamber, waiting, not yet used. The death penalty for acts of terrorism, like the Oklahoma City bombing, has been on the books less than a year. One attorney says the law was written for cases just like this. "The crime is so gregious and it's so heartless," said James Linn, an Oklahoma City lawyer.
Linn, a nationally known attorney whose office felt the impact of the federal building blast two blocks away, said a jury would have no trouble imposing the death sentence, particularly if prosecutors can show the suspects targeted the children who died in the day-care center. "That would make a jury mad ... angry, " Linn said.
But it has been 32 years since the federal government put anyone to death, and a resumption of executions is not likely to happen soon. The Oklahoma City case is almost certain to be fought all the way to the Supreme Court, and that would take years.
A previous federal death penalty law was enacted seven years ago for drug racketeering murders. Six men, three from a crack cocaine gang in Richmond, Va., are now on death row for drug killings. The Supreme Court has not yet reviewed any of those cases. "You can expect (the Oklahoma City case) to move faster because the whole world is looking at this," (132k aiff) Linn said. He also notes that both the courts and Congress have been trying to cut down on appeals. "I don't think we'll see any more 15-year death row inmates," Linn said.
There's no doubt what prosecutors want to do with chief suspect Timothy McVeigh and the second man indicted for the bombing, Terry Nichols. "I intend to recommend to the Department Of Justice and to the attorney general of the United States that the death penalty be sought," said U.S. Attorney Patrick Ryan.
For McVeigh and Nichols, the long road to learn their fate will begin with their first court date to enter pleas of innocence, probably on Tuesday.
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