-Caveat Lector- >From Nando Media, http://www.nandotimes.com/politics/story/0,1068,91690-145217-1015454-0,00.ht ml - Federal agents clash with judge over seizure of Waco evidence Copyright © 1999 Nando Media Copyright © 1999 Associated Press DALLAS (September 10, 1999 4:44 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - According to a Friday article in The Dallas Morning News, U.S. marshals delayed carrying out a judge's sealed order to seize more evidence from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms stemming from the Branch Davidian standoff. The marshals carried out the order after U.S. District Judge Walter Smith issued a second edict Thursday that they comply with his initial order immediately, the newspaper said, citing unidentified sources. An ATF spokesman in Washington confirmed that Smith issued the order after hearing that the agency was considering closing its Waco office. He said the judge wanted the office's contents to be preserved. "There was, I guess on his part, some concern that the office might be closing," said Jeff Roehm, public affairs chief at the agency's headquarters. "It was pretty much expected." According to the News, the chief U.S. marshal for the district spent hours debating whether to execute the order, first consulting with his agency's headquarters in Washington and the U.S. attorney's office in San Antonio. Eventually, the marshals seized files and took custody of keys to storage facilities, the News said. Smith is scheduled in October to begin hearing a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the government by Branch Davidians who survived the 1993 federal raid and subsequent fire at their compound. Last week, Smith rejected a plea by the Justice Department, parent agency of the U.S. Marshals Service, not to take control of the evidence. A Justice Department spokesman in Washington declined comment on Thursday's seizure, the newspaper said. The Waco ATF office was set up to help coordinate the federal prosecutions and contained case files and documents related to the 51-day standoff at the Branch Davidian compound. Roehm said the agency had decided to keep the office open until the end of the wrongful-death lawsuit. David Koresh and about 80 of his followers died in the April 19, 1993, fire at their Mount Carmel compound. Attorney General Janet Reno this week appointed an independent inquiry to investigate the FBI's actions at the end of the standoff after the agency revealed, after years of denials, that it fired potentially flammable tear-gas canisters at the compound on the day of the fire. The government still maintains that the Davidians set the blaze. Last Friday, Smith had to intervene before the ATF allowed the Texas Rangers access to the Waco storage facility containing the massive collection of evidence. The Rangers had asked to enter the facility to search for items relating to pyrotechnic tear-gas devices fired by the FBI. Rangers instead discovered the spent remains of a star parachute flare. -- Dan S DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
