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Federal judge will hear McVeigh request to stop appeals

McVeigh

DENVER, Colorado (CNN) -- A federal court hearing is scheduled for Thursday on convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh's request to stop his appeals process and face execution.

The hearing, at 1 p.m. local time (3 p.m. EST), will be open to the public and focus on McVeigh's request to waive additional appeals. He was convicted of murder for the April 19, 1995, bomb attack on the Murrah Federal Building that left 168 people dead.

McVeigh will not be in the courtroom during the hearing, which is expected to last between 30 and 45 minutes. He will be seen and heard via a video monitor from the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana.

One of McVeigh's attorneys, Nathan Chambers, will be with him in Indiana. His other lawyer, Dennis Hartley, will be in the Denver courtroom, where U.S. District Court Judge Richard Matsch will preside. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Connelly will also be present in Denver.

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Both sides said that during the hearing, Judge Matsch will talk directly to McVeigh. The judge will inform him of the legal appellate rights he is giving up by filing his request. Matsch will also make sure that McVeigh has made this decision voluntarily and without pressure from anyone.

The law says the decision must be "a knowing, intelligent waiver." McVeigh decided, against his lawyers' advice, to stop the appeals process, but Hartley said McVeigh has a legal right to do so.

Judge to listen for competency

Connelly said McVeigh did not have "many more options for appeal." But both Hartley and Connelly do not expect Matsch to ask McVeigh why he has decided to waive the right to further appeals. Both sides said the judge will be carefully looking and listening during McVeigh's answers for signs of competency.

As an outcome of the hearing, the judge could:

  •  Request a competency hearing for McVeigh.

  •  Deny McVeigh's request.

  •  Grant McVeigh's request.

  •  Grant McVeigh's request and move immediately to set a date for execution.

There is some question as to whether Judge Matsch would set the execution date or whether the U.S. Bureau of Prisons would set it. By law, the execution date can be "no sooner than 120 days from the end of court proceedings."

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, there have been 340 federal executions in U.S. history. The last one was in 1963, when Victor Fequer was hanged in Iowa for kidnapping.

If McVeigh is put to death, his execution would be the first federal execution in more than 35 years. Federal death row inmate Juan Garza was scheduled to die December 12 but President Clinton stayed that execution for at least six months.

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Federal Bureau of Investigation
U.S. Department of Justice
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
Oklahoma State Government
Death Penalty Information Center
US Federal Bureau of Prisons

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