Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols was again spared the death penalty Friday when jurors who convicted him of 161 murder counts deadlocked over his sentence, denying state prosecutors the execution that was the main reason for bringing the case. Just as a federal jury deadlocked six years earlier, state jurors could not agree on Nichols' punishment for helping executed bomber Timothy McVeigh blow up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, killing 168 people. Nichols is set to be sentenced Aug. 9 by Judge Steven Taylor, who is required by law to sentence Nichols to life in prison. State jurors announced they could not reach a verdict after deliberating for about 19 1/2 hours over three days. "No one should feel that they have let anybody down," Taylor said. "This case was not about winning or losing. This case is about justice."
| Correct, and Nichols spending the rest of his life in a super-max is just fine. |
The deadlock was a blow to state prosecutors and victims' relatives. "It's sad that he still gets to stay alive, and everybody else didn't have a choice on whether they would leave this world," said Debbie Miller, who was injured in the explosion. State prosecutors brought the case, which has cost $3.9 million in defense attorneys' fees alone, after Nichols was sentenced to life in prison without parole following federal convictions for the deaths of eight federal agents in the bombing. The state convictions were for the 160 other victims of the bombing, and one fetus whose mother died in the blast. Oklahoma County District Attorney Wes Lane, who made the decision to pursue the state case against Nichols, denied that the prosecution was conducted solely for the purpose of getting a death penalty verdict. He said it was important that Nichols be convicted of killing all the bombing victims, and that the state counts serve as an insurance policy if the federal counts are overturned. "This case has always been about 161 men, women and children and an unborn baby having the same rights to their day in court as eight federal law enforcement officers," he said. "They've now had their day in court."
| I don't know, Terry is alive and they are still dead. |
|