New judge in Terry Nichols prelim may be announced next week

Friday, January 17th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ The chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court may announce next week the selection of a judge to preside over the preliminary hearing for Oklahoma City bombing defendant Terry Nichols.

``I am working with several district judges in checking their dockets and those of their special judges to determine their availability,'' Chief Justice Joseph M. Watt said in a statement released late Thursday.

``It is my hope to name in the very near future, possibly as early as next week, a judge to preside over the preliminary hearing.''

Watt said he anticipated a delay in the beginning of the Feb. 3 proceeding to accommodate the existing docket and commitments of the judge who will be assigned.

``Because of the high profile nature of this case and security concerns surrounding it, I will have no further comment on this process until a judge is assigned,'' he said.

Watts' appointee would be the third judge assigned to the hearing, which will determine if there is enough evidence to hold Nichols for trial.

District Judge Ray Dean Linder set the February date last year, but recused himself from the case Nov. 22 because of his responsibilities in other counties and his frustration with the slow pace of the case.

Associate District Judge Robert Murphy Jr. of Stillwater was disqualified from the case in August 2000 at the request of prosecutors.

Oklahoma County prosecutors have charged Nichols with 160 counts of first-degree murder in connection with the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

The explosion killed 168 people, injured more than 500 and damaged or destroyed nearby buildings in one of the worst terrorist attacks on American soil.

A federal jury convicted Nichols in 1997 of conspiracy and involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of eight federal agents. The state trial covers the other slain victims.

Nichols has been in the Oklahoma County Jail since January 2000. His preliminary hearing has been repeatedly delayed.

Co-defendant Timothy McVeigh was convicted in federal court of murder and weapons counts and was executed in 2001.