-Caveat Lector-
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/10wire-mcveigh.html
May 10, 2001
F.B.I. MISTAKENLY WITHHELD BOXES OF DOCUMENTS FROM MCVEIGH
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Statement from the F.B.I. on release of documents:
On Tuesday, May 8, the Department of Justice notified Timothy McVeigh's
attorneys of a number of FBI documents that should have been provided to
them during the discovery phase of the trial.
While the department is confident the documents do not in any way create
any reasonable doubt about McVeigh's guilt and do not contradict his
repeated confessions of guilt, the department is concerned that McVeigh's
attorneys were not able to review them at the appropriate time.
The documents have been made available to McVeigh's attorneys, and the
department has asked for notification if they believe any of the
documents create any reasonable doubt about McVeigh's guilt.
=============
WASHINGTON -- Just six days before Timothy McVeigh's scheduled execution,
the FBI turned over thousands of documents from the Oklahoma City bombing
investigation to McVeigh's defense team Thursday. An attorney said the
materials may prompt a request for a stay.
"We're considering all our options," McVeigh lawyer Nathan Chambers said
after the documents, which the FBI said were mistakenly withheld, were
delivered to his office in Denver.
Chambers said he had spoken to McVeigh about the documents but declined
to reveal what he said. "Mr. McVeigh is going to think about it and
decide how he wants to proceed," he said.
The disclosure was a jarring development, coming as federal law
enforcement officials make final preparations for McVeigh's lethal
injection at a federal prison facility in Terre Haute, Ind., next
Wednesday.
The Justice Department said "a number of FBI documents" should have been
provided to McVeigh's attorneys during the discovery phase of his 1997
trial in Denver federal court.
"While the department is confident the documents do not in any way create
any reasonable doubt about McVeigh's guilt and do not contradict his
repeated confessions of guilt, the department is concerned that McVeigh's
attorneys were not able to review them at the appropriate time," the
agency said in a statement.
The agency said it has asked defense attorneys for notification if they
believe the documents throw McVeigh's guilt into question.
McVeigh's trial judge, U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch, was not
immediately available to comment.
In a recently published book, "American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh & The
Oklahoma City Bombing," McVeigh claimed sole responsibility for the April
19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred R. Murrah Federal Building, which killed
168 people and injured hundreds of others.
"My decision to take human life at the Murrah Building -- I did not do it
for personal gain. ... I did it for the larger good," he told the book's
authors.
He had also ordered his lawyers not to intervene in his case.
The FBI discovered the mistake as it gathered documents for archiving,
said a law enforcement official in Washington, speaking on condition of
anonymity. A source said an initial FBI review indicated the withholding
was an accident and not an attempt to disrupt McVeigh's defense.
The documents include FBI records of interviews and other matters related
to the investigation. Chambers said he was not aware of their existence
until Wednesday when told of them in a telephone call from Sean Connelly
of the U.S. Attorney's office in Denver.
"Here we are a full six years after the bombing and a less than a week
before Mr. McVeigh's scheduled execution and these reports mysteriously
appear. So it's a cause for concern," Chambers said.
Similar documents formed the basis of an unsuccessful appeal by bombing
co-defendant Terry Nichols, who claimed the papers could have changed the
outcome of his federal trial. He was found guilty of conspiracy and
involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to life in prison.
Chambers declined to say whether the documents would be favorable to any
appeal by McVeigh.
"If it becomes an issue, the courts will deal with it," he said.
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