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McVeigh execution date could be in doubt
DENVER, Colorado (CNN) -- Five days before his scheduled execution, convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh is considering his legal options after the FBI acknowledged it had withheld evidence from his defense team. Defense attorney Nathan Chambers said Thursday that McVeigh had been informed and advised of his legal options -- which include seeking a stay of execution, scheduled for Wednesday. Chambers wouldn't say if McVeigh has made a decision. A member of McVeigh's defense team told CNN's Susan Candiotti that nothing would likely be filed in federal court in Denver before Monday.
"I don't want to go into the specific options that may be available to Mr. McVeigh," Chambers said. "The only thing I can say at this point is that there are a number of legal options that may be available to him and they are under consideration." Attorney General John Ashcroft today is scheduled to hold a press conference on the McVeigh case. McVeigh, 33, is scheduled to die by lethal injection Wednesday at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, for the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The blast killed 168 people, including 19 children. McVeigh had halted all appeals of his case, saying he preferred to die than to spend the rest of his life in prison. His attorneys said the final decision about a request for a stay would be left up to the convicted bomber. The FBI said it had inadvertently failed to hand over more than 3,100 pages of documents, promptly forwarding the material to McVeigh's attorneys when the error was discovered as all the material related to the case was requested for archiving. "The department has asked for notification if they (the attorneys) believe any of the documents create any reasonable doubt about McVeigh's guilt," the Justice Department said in a statement. Privately, FBI and Justice Department officials said that the documents contained "nothing of major significance" and "nothing that could put McVeigh's conviction in jeopardy." Conspiracy theory raised againBut a prosecutor in the case and Oklahoma's governor said they were appalled by the late discovery. "I'm rather puzzled, curious and concerned about what is going on," Gov. Frank Keating told CNN. "I mean, it's the 11th hour and 45th minute. How did this happen so late now?" Prosecutor Patrick Ryan went a step further, saying he believed the government should ask for a stay of execution to give the defense team time to look over the documents. The lapse, Ryan said, was "embarrassing" and "totally unacceptable." Richard Burr, a death penalty specialist who helped defend the decorated Persian Gulf War veteran and is now acting as a consultant for the legal team, told CNN the lawyers do not have approval from McVeigh to seek a stay. Asked on what grounds a stay could be justified after McVeigh admitted he planted and detonated the bomb that destroyed the Murrah Federal Building in 1995, Burr said, "What if Stephen Jones is right and he is protecting others?"
The reference was to McVeigh's lead trial attorney, later fired, who contended his client was part of a larger conspiracy. Ryan confirmed that some of the documents included claims there was a mysterious suspect known as "John Doe No. 2." Jones said Thursday he feels "vindicated" by the government's admission. "I said from the beginning they were withholding evidence, and they were," he said. He also said that that he's been told the documents contain more than 200 interviews and he suspects they are about what witnesses said about a second suspect the FBI called John Doe No. 2. "If this should turn out to be about John Doe No. 2, I think it is far from clear that the Oklahoma City bombing case has reached a conclusion in federal court," Jones said. The FBI later concluded McVeigh acted largely alone, because of a hot apple pie he bought at a McDonald's in Junction City, Kansas, minutes before renting the bomb truck. A security camera caught McVeigh on film arriving alone, eating by himself and then leaving alone. McVeigh did not take the stand in his own defense during his trial. Jones suggested then that the real bomber was killed in the blast, and suggested the evidence was contaminated in the much-maligned FBI crime lab. However, in a book published last month, "American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing," McVeigh claimed sole responsibility for the bombing of the Alfred R. Murrah Federal Building. "My decision to take human life at the Murrah Building -- I did not do it for personal gain. ... I did it for the larger good," he told the book's authors. Attorney: 3,000 documentsA source close to the case told CNN's Candiotti that an FBI archivist discovered the withheld documents as all the materials related to the case were compiled. The U.S. attorney in Denver informed his defense team and the federal court in Denver on Wednesday of what the FBI has called an oversight. It had only just discovered the day before - that investigatory documents, including reports on FBI interviews, photographs, letters and tapes, were withheld from McVeigh's defense. A source said there was "nothing of major significance" withheld from the defense, Candiotti reported. The documents included some of the original notes of FBI investigators who had earlier turned over summaries of their findings. Burr said the materials included 3,000 pages of documents, but the Justice Department declined to quantify it. Another source told CNN that the discovery was made on Tuesday. "Once the government was made aware of the documents, they were turned over to the defense. They are not material to the case and have no bearing on the outcome of the conviction," a Justice Department official said "If the defense disagrees, they will contact us." Prison official: Execution still scheduledMcVeigh was convicted in a Denver trial of the 1995 bombing. He was sentenced to death by lethal injection. He later dropped appeals in the case, opting to die rather than spend life in prison. His death would be the first federal execution since 1963. Dan Dunne, a spokesman for the penitentiary where McVeigh would be executed, told CNN that prison officials have not been notified of any change of plans. "There's been no change at this point," he said. "It's still scheduled." CNN correspondents Gina London and Susan Candiotti contributed to this report. RELATED STORIES:
FBI says it withheld evidence from McVeigh lawyers RELATED SITES:
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