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Nichols Proposes Deal in Okla. Bomb Case
Bombing conspirator Terry Nichols offered Tuesday to plead no contest to state murder charges if prosecutors drop their attempt to seek the death penalty, according to a motion filed in the case. State prosecutors indicated in a statement they have no plans to accept Nicholsâ offer, similar to at least one other offer the defense has made. Nichols, charged with 161 counts of first-degree murder, filed the motion in McAlester, where heâs scheduled to go on trial March 1 for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing. Nicholsâ motion was apparently filed in response to a recent editorial in The Oklahoman which inferred that the trial, expected to last 3-6 months and cost millions of dollars, was being conducted because of Nicholsâ refusal to enter a plea. "We need to make perfectly clear on the record that Mr. Nichols is willing - and has been willing - to enter a no contest plea to all counts" if the state would not seek the death penalty, the motion states. Oklahoma County District Attorney Wes Lane indicated prosecutors will not accept Nicholsâ offer. A no contest plea, he said, "allows a defendant to be sentenced by a judge without admitting that he bears any responsibility for the acts of which he is accused. I think that speaks for itself," Laneâs statement said. In September 2001, Nicholsâ lead attorney, Brian Hermanson, offered in an open letter to Lane to end the appeals of his federal bombing conviction and accept a federal life sentence in order to avoid a state trial. Nichols, 48, was convicted of federal charges for the deaths of eight law enforcement officers in the April 19, 1995, bombing, which killed 168 people. he was sentenced to life in prison. The state charges are for the deaths of the other 160 victims and one victimâs unborn child. This mutt should die. However, if he were to tell us everything about the supposed connection of the OK bombing to some Middle Eastern terrorist group, and IF everything he said checked out, and IF that info allowed us to roll up a dangerous network, then I might allow him to spend the rest of his life in solitary. Posted by: Steve White 2004-02-18 |
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