Word: mcveighs
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After the Denver jury found McVeigh guilty last Monday of all 11 crimes with which he had been charged, the case entered the penalty phase, in which the jurors must decide whether McVeigh deserves to be executed. All the offenses--conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, use of a weapon of mass destruction, destruction by an explosive and the murder of eight federal law-enforcement agents--carry the possible penalty of death. Questions about the morality of the death penalty itself are moot, since in order to join the panel, the jurors had to say they were capable...
...burden for the prosecutors in this phase is to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that McVeigh's crimes involved one or more "aggravating circumstances." If blowing up a building full of people and killing and wounding hundreds of them isn't an aggravating circumstance, it is hard to imagine what would be. Nevertheless, there are certain legal requirements the government must meet. The federal death- penalty statute lists 15 possible aggravating circumstances, and the prosecution is trying to prove that four of these apply--that deaths occurred while McVeigh was committing various felonies, that he created a grave risk...
...Stephen Jones, is trying to show that there are "mitigating circumstances." These can include severe mental disturbance, an inability to appreciate the wrongfulness of one's actions, relatively minor participation in the crime and so on. The defense will not attempt to show that any of these apply to McVeigh, but there is a catch-all provision that allows it to bring in the background, record and character of the defendant. Accordingly, Jones will call witnesses from McVeigh's past with the hope of humanizing him and showing that up until April 19, 1995, he was a decent young...
...defendant. He showed no emotion when the verdicts were read, nor did he react during the testimony of the victims last week. While others wept, he sat at the defense table in his impassive pose, with his chin resting on his hands. Lawyers and spectators were shocked that McVeigh remained so unmoved, and the jury may also have been affected. "McVeigh's demeanor matters," said Larry Pozner, a veteran defense attorney in Denver. "The jurors see everything and forget nothing. The demeanor of Timothy McVeigh will be weighed...
...doubtful, even after all the defense witnesses have testified, that the jurors will feel any more indulgent toward McVeigh or that they will know him any better. He remains a mysterious figure. When he enters the courtroom, he continues to look relaxed and even jocular, until the jury comes in, and then his face goes blank. His only real confidant appears to be Jones. He had a birthday on April 23, when he turned 29; his lawyers gave him two flannel shirts and a box of Peppermint Patties. He spends most of his time in jail reading the piles...