Denied One Trial, Nichols Faces Another
Convicted Oklahoma City conspirator Terry Nichols has been denied a new federal trial, however Oklahoma officials plan to try Nichols on separate state charges.
Nine weeks after requesting a new federal trial, convicted Oklahoma City conspirator Terry Nichols was turned down by a judge.
Oklahoma state officials, however, moved forward in their own way to grant Nichols' request — appropriating almost $1 million for his defense in a separate state trial that could bring Nichols the death sentence.
In the federal case, Nichols' attorneys argued that prosecutors had not turned over all relevant documents to the defense in the 1995 bombing. But U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch disagreed, saying the defense request for 43,000 documents exceeded "reasonable limits." Nichols had been sentenced to life in prison in the 1997 trial.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma officials went ahead with plans to try Nichols on separate state charges, lodged last March, of 163 counts of murder and conspiracy. The officials have pursued the second trial because it could result in a death sentence.
