Jury deadlock spares Nichols a death sentence

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) _ In a blow to prosecutors and victims' family members who said death was the appropriate punishment, a 12-member jury deadlocked on whether Terry Nichols should be executed for

Monday, June 7th 2004, 5:43 am

By: News On 6

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) _ In a blow to prosecutors and victims' family members who said death was the appropriate punishment, a 12-member jury deadlocked on whether Terry Nichols should be executed for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.

Jurors deliberated 19 1/2 hours over three days before they said Friday they had reached an impasse.

It was the second time Nichols escaped the death penalty for the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, which killed 168 people.

A federal jury deadlocked on his sentence six years ago after finding him guilty of conspiracy and involuntary manslaughter for the deaths of eight federal agents. A judge sentenced him to life in prison without parole.

In the state case, Nichols was convicted for the 160 other victims, and one fetus whose mother died in the blast. Because the jury deadlocked in the sentencing phase, the duty now falls to Judge Steven Taylor.

Taylor, who must by law sentence Nichols to life in prison, set the sentencing for Aug. 9.

The judge asked jury foreman Peter Mills if more deliberations could lead to a decision. Mills said that would not help.

``Three days you have worked on this,'' Taylor told the jury. ``And sometimes this is how cases end. The law anticipates that juries may not reach unanimous conclusions.''

Mills told The Associated Press Saturday he did not remember what the final vote was and declined to reveal whether he favored the death penalty.

``The deliberation is over and there's absolutely no reason to continue it,'' Mills said.

Mary Reeder, whose husband Cecil Reeder was on the jury, said in a telephone interview he was in bed and couldn't come to the telephone. She said he told her the jury voted 7-5 for the death penalty. The jury's decision had to be unanimous.

Juror Joseph Reynolds told The Oklahoman that jurors were split 8-4, the majority favoring death. ``Oh, it was rough,'' said Reynolds, who voted for a death sentence. ``It was just a tough time.''

Another juror who spoke on condition that his name not be used said jury vote talleys were 7-5 at some points Friday and 8-4 at other times.

``We did take a tally each time, but it fluctuated,'' he said.

State prosecutors brought the case, which has cost $3.9 million in defense attorneys' fees alone, after Nichols' federal trial.

``I think he should die, but that's not my decision,'' said Beverly Rankin, who was injured in the bombing. ``Hopefully, he'll never step foot out free in his lifetime.''

Bud Welch, who lost a daughter in the bombing but opposed the death penalty for Nichols, said in a telephone interview that the state trial was a waste of money.

``It's just a shame that we've paid millions of dollars and spent a tremendous amount of emotions and re-victimized family members to go through this process,'' Welch said.

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. He said it was important for Nichols to be convicted of killing all the bombing victims.

Lane also said the state counts would 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.

Later, Lane said he believes Nichols was spared the death penalty because of ``sympathy issues'' among some jurors, including his religious conversion since he was arrested three days after the bombing. Prosecutors had argued that Nichols' faith was not genuine but was a ``jailhouse conversion'' that began about the time the state filed murder charges against him in 1999.

Defense attorney Brian Hermanson said his thoughts were with members of bombing victims' families. He said Nichols prayed that ``all people can recover from the hate and fear'' created by the bombing.

Prosecutors said the blast was revenge for the deaths of about 80 people who died in the government siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, exactly two years earlier.

Timothy McVeigh, Nichols' former Army buddy and the mastermind of the bombing, was convicted of federal charges and executed on June 11, 2001, three years to the day of the Nichols verdict.

They said Nichols helped build the two-ton bomb of farm fertilizer and fuel oil that was packed into a Ryder truck and detonated outside the federal building.

Nichols' trial in Oklahoma began in March and lasted more than three months. The jury began deliberating in the trial's sentencing phase Wednesday following days of emotional testimony from victims' relatives and members of Nichols' family.