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U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft

Ashcroft

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft says he is convinced that justice has been done in the Timothy McVeigh case and that the Oklahoma City bomber was treated fairly.

He discussed the case, and the federal death penalty, in an exclusive interview with CNN Justice Correspondent Kelli Arena.

Arena: Mr. Ashcroft, Timothy McVeigh's lawyers called yesterday's ruling 'the Tim McVeigh exception' to the rule of law. They say all they wanted was more time to look over the documents. With McVeigh scheduled to die Monday morning, won't there always be some doubt that full justice wasn't carried out?

Ashcroft: There won't be any doubt because the courts have acted very responsibly. The court had the opportunity to look at the documents, Tim McVeigh's attorneys indicated that there were only nine documents that they felt could have any impact at all. Our brief very clearly specified that every fact in all nine of those documents had previously been available to the McVeigh trial team during the trial on the basis of other documents that contained the same facts. The court, in getting to the nine-document level, and the McVeigh attorneys sifted through what clearly was a lot of material, most of which was totally irrelevant. We had folders of newspaper clippings about the event. Obviously they didn't bring new facts to bear.

VIDEO CNN's Kelli Arena talks with U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft about the scheduled execution of Timothy McVeigh (June 8) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) McVeigh's lawyers announce his decision to stop legally challenging his execution (June 8) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN Legal Analyst Roger Cossack explains how government prosecutor Sean Connelly won the ruling (June 6) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)  IN-DEPTH • Execution of Timothy McVeigh • Oklahoma City Bombing  MESSAGE BOARD McVeigh execution  ON THE SCENE Roger Cossack: McVeigh's legal options  DOCUMENTS Read documents in the McVeigh case (FindLaw) (PDF) U.S. Court of Appeals denies McVeigh's stay request, June 7 Transcript of the McVeigh stay hearing, June 6 More documents Documents in PDF format require Adobe Acrobat Reader for viewing.  ALSO • Who's to die? Who's to say? • Appeals court blocks execution taping, for now • Reaction to judge's denial of stay for McVeigh • U.S., Japan urged to end executions   LEGAL RESOURCES Latest Legal News Law Library FindLaw Consumer Center Select a topic Bankruptcy Discrimination Divorce Estate Planning Landlord-Tenant Personal Injury Taxes

The U.S. Court in Denver on the basis of our brief and our material made a very clear ruling, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals made a ruling so clear that McVeigh's attorneys and McVeigh have decided not to pursue the matter any further. I believe that justice has been done, responsibly undertaken, and the completion of this process is very important.

Arena: Some suggest, sir, that Timothy McVeigh in this whole process has been turned into a martyr for sympathizers or militia groups who view the government as an enemy. How concerned are you that this could give momentum to their cause?

Ashcroft: I'm concerned about the victims here. They have been very responsible and we have a responsibility to the victims -- 168 people were killed, including 19 children, hundreds more people injured -- and it's our responsibility and it's the responsibility of the justice system to come to a completion of the process. This completion will not restore the victims, but it will at least allow them to know that the justice process has worked and is complete.

Arena: Is there any concern at all on your part of momentum building up for that faction of the population?

Ashcroft: We want the conduct of justice to be responsible and that's why we don't think that there should be irresponsible reporting regarding Timothy McVeigh. We didn't think there should be any filming of this matter so he can promote his ideas. I don't think that someone who kills 168 people should be in any way memorialized or aggrandized.

And yes, we are concerned and want to make sure that in our responsible operation of the judicial system we don't promote the kind of activity that is abhorrent, the most heinous terrorist crime ever to be perpetrated on American soil.

Arena: Following up on the filming of the McVeigh execution, a federal judge in Pittsburgh today ordered that the McVeigh execution be videotaped for use in an unrelated capital murder case. What is the Justice Department's position on that ruling?

Ashcroft: The Justice Department respects the rule and regulation of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, which prohibits the taping or recording memorializing executions. The Justice Department will do everything within its power to sustain that ruling and to observe it as a means of providing the right responsible approach to bringing justice to a completion in terrible heinous criminal cases like this one where 168 people died and hundreds more were injured.

Arena: Some suggest, though, that a broader audience viewing an execution could serve as a deterrent. What is your understanding?

Ashcroft: I think a responsible approach to the completion of the justice responsibility here, to fulfilling this charge we have from the culture is very consistent with the Federal Bureau of Prisons' prohibition on publicizing and aggrandizing or memorializing the person being executed. Its prohibition on recording or filming or taping is the right policy and this department will do everything within its power to observe and sustain that policy.

Arena: How significant do you think it is that the United States is carrying out the first execution in 38 years when many of our Western partners have either abolished the death penalty or are firmly against it?

Ashcroft: The Congress of the United States in response to the kind of heinous terrorist attacks like this one has made it very clear that we value our freedom and that we value the lives of American citizens so profoundly that we want to send a signal that we take it so seriously that we will impose the death sentence on those who inflict this kind of damage on America and on her people.

I support the Congress in that respect and I believe that a responsible judicial system replete with fairness guaranteeing that the procedure is a good procedure that is sound, bringing us to the right conclusion, is what it ought to be. Congress has appropriately directed this, it is the policy of the United States government, and it will be achieved in this case.

Arena: In administrating the death penalty, Justice just concluded a study showing there was no racial or geographic bias, but critics are not satisfied with that conclusion and point specifically to the fact that more blacks and Hispanics are targeted at the front end of the process, though they may not be facing capital sentences in the end, at the end there is an unfair targeting of blacks and minorities.

Ashcroft: First of all, we have very carefully studied more than 700 cases, my predecessor as attorney general did, and she found no basis that any bias, ethnic or otherwise, existed. We added 250 more cases that were more recent and hadn't been part of her first study and with the 950-case study group we could find no bias whatever. In fact, white citizens were slightly more likely to be charged and moved through the system in a place of capital jeopardy than were blacks, 38 percent for white, 25 percent for blacks, and 20 percent for Hispanics, so there isn't any evidence.

However, I think it's very important that the American people trust the system and we trust it to do the right thing, so I am directing the National Institute of Justice to study further and to continue our ... careful approach so we can be assured, and understand, and know that there is no racial or gender bias, or any bias that makes inappropriate the imposition of this very serious penalty.