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Omaha Steve

(99,663 posts)
Tue Dec 23, 2014, 08:53 AM Dec 2014

Marathon bombing suspect's lawyers invoke McVeigh

Source: AP-Excite

BOSTON (AP) — Lawyers for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev who are seeking to have his trial moved out of Massachusetts again drew parallels Monday between the media coverage of their client's case and the coverage received by Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.

It would be impossible to select impartial jurors, defense attorneys wrote in a filing Monday, because "the crimes charged inflicted actual injury on the entire local population" and "greater Boston, was itself, a victim."

Defense attorneys said "adverse pretrial publicity and leaks continue unabated," and "media saturation can only be expected to intensify" as the January trial — and the April anniversary of the explosions — nears.

McVeigh's 1997 trial was moved to Denver. He was ultimately put to death for the bombing, which killed 168 people and injured hundreds more.

FULL story at link.



In this still images from aerial video provided by WHDH-TV in Boston, Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, center wearing an orange jumpsuit, is transferred between vehicles in Devins, Mass., following his hearing in federal court Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014, in Boston. Tsarnaev is charged with carrying out the April 2013 attack that killed three people and injured more than 260. He could face the death penalty if convicted. (AP Photo/WHDH-TV Boston) NO ONLINE, PRINT OR BROADCAST USE MASSACHUSETTS. MANDATORY CREDIT.

Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20141223/us-boston-marathon-bombing-9444697cd1.html

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Marathon bombing suspect's lawyers invoke McVeigh (Original Post) Omaha Steve Dec 2014 OP
Timothy McVeigh: Patron Saint of Gun Advocacy/Domestic Terrorism. nt onehandle Dec 2014 #1
Psssst. Tsarnaev lawyers... alcibiades_mystery Dec 2014 #2
Timothy McVeigh had a topnotch defense attorney. mahatmakanejeeves Dec 2014 #3
Their point is understandable, it will be difficult to find impartial jurors there. nt uppityperson Dec 2014 #4
Will it be possible to find them anywhere? murielm99 Dec 2014 #5
I certainly would not be an impartial potential juror, but there are loads of people here that FailureToCommunicate Dec 2014 #6

mahatmakanejeeves

(57,513 posts)
3. Timothy McVeigh had a topnotch defense attorney.
Tue Dec 23, 2014, 10:07 AM
Dec 2014

In a previous case, he lost his job because he took a principled stand.

Stephen Jones

Stephen Jones, (born July 1, 1940), is an attorney and Republican activist from Enid, Oklahoma. He is best known for serving as Timothy McVeigh's lead defense lawyer during McVeigh's trial on 11 counts regarding his actions in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
....

Legal career

On May 5, 1970, the day after National Guardsmen had shot and killed four students at Kent State University, Keith Green was arrested at the University of Oklahoma for carrying a Viet Cong flag in violation of a state law prohibiting the display of a "red flag or emblem of anarchy or rebellion". After 12 lawyers had refused to defend the student, Jones took the case and was promptly dismissed from the Enid, Oklahoma law firm where he was employed. Jones argued in court that the disloyalty statute was unconstitutional and the judge dismissed the case, overturning the statute. Later Jones would go on to represent Abbie Hoffman, the radical Yippie, when Oklahoma State University refused to let him speak on campus.

In 1975, Jones defended Bobby Wayne Collins who was accused of the worst mass killing in Oklahoma history at the time. Mervin Thrasher (28), his wife Sandra (27), their two young children (Penny (5) and Robert (18mos)) were senselessly murdered in their four room farm home one mile north of Woodward Oklahoma. Collins was found guilty and sentenced to death for the brutal crime. On appeal in 1977, Jones successfully had Collin’s death sentence commuted to a life sentence. Bobby Wayne Collins is scheduled for a parole hearing in July 2009.
....

In 1997, Stephen Jones was the lead defense attorney for Timothy McVeigh, who was on trial for the Oklahoma City bombing. McVeigh wanted to use the "necessity defense," but Jones took a different tack, even traveling to other countries in search of evidence because he believed that McVeigh did not act alone in the bombing. McVeigh was convicted on all counts and executed in 2001.

murielm99

(30,745 posts)
5. Will it be possible to find them anywhere?
Tue Dec 23, 2014, 04:51 PM
Dec 2014

I live in the Midwest and followed the story closely. It was almost impossible not to do that.

My husband and I were on the road most of that day, or sitting with my dad while he was in hospice care. But we were still listening to the radio. It was nonstop on TV. The front pages of the papers were filled with stories about the bombings.

FailureToCommunicate

(14,014 posts)
6. I certainly would not be an impartial potential juror, but there are loads of people here that
Tue Dec 23, 2014, 05:03 PM
Dec 2014

might get empaneled. Ones who don't "follow the news" or have strong opinions about...much of anything.

We did just elect a Republican governor after all.

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