Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 6 Num. 28

("Quid coniuratio est?")


MCVEIGH'S LAWYER MOVES TO THROW OUT INDICTMENTS

Accused Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh's lawyer, Stephen Jones, appeared briefly on CBS This Morning on October 16, 1995 where he was interviewed by Harry Smith.

HARRY SMITH:
He stands accused of a hideous crime. But the case against Timothy McVeigh for allegedly bombing the Oklahoma City federal building may be in real trouble long before the trial can begin. A member of that grand jury, of that indictment, has given interviews to a magazine and a newspaper, the Daily Oklahoman. And some of what that grand juror has to say could put prosecutors in a serious bind.

McVeigh's attorney, Stephen Jones, has asked that the indictment be dismissed. And he joins us this morning from Enid, Oklahoma. Good morning, Mr. Jones.

STEPHEN JONES:
Good morning, Harry.

HARRY SMITH:
You have filed a motion in court, on Friday, asking what?

STEPHEN JONES:
I ask the court to dismiss the indictment against Mr. McVeigh or, the alternative, to allow us to interview grand jurors and to have an evidentiary hearing on the allegations we have received.

HARRY SMITH:
Because a grand juror... Now do we know, for a fact, this juror has spoken and, in fact, the person who has done these interviewers... interviews... was a grand juror?

STEPHEN JONES:
I listened to about six to eight hours of tapes of the interview. And I'm satisfied, by the contents of the tapes, that it is in fact at least one grand juror. Yes.

HARRY SMITH:
And what kinds of things did this person say that you think would be grounds for dismissal?

STEPHEN JONES:
I think two things: First, the grand juror makes some rather dramatic allegations against the government and the prosecutors and the grand jury, that they attempted to control the direction of the grand jury and to focus only on my client and Terry Nichols, and took away their independence. Secondly, but less so, I'm disturbed that during the sessions of the grand jury (and this grand juror still on the grand jury), apparently on numerous occasions he talked with members of the press -- which is strictly prohibited by Rule Six of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.

HARRY SMITH:
But prosecutors so often try to steer a grand jury in the direction they're... that... Why would that, this be any different than any other case?

STEPHEN JONES:
Well, for several reasons: First, according to this grand juror, they could not ask questions unless they were first screened by the prosecutors -- which is a serious breach of grand jury independence. A number of the grand jurors resented bringing in twelve-year-old Josh and Tim McVeigh's sister, said this was unfair and not necessary to secure evidence. And then, the grand jurors wanted to go after other witnesses, such as the elusive John Doe #2, and the prosecutors would not bring in the artist that drew the composite and other witnesses -- but yet would saddle the grand jury with people like Josh and Jennifer, whose knowledge was very limited. Apparently at least four grand jurors were very aggravated by this, shall we say, "lock" on their independence.

HARRY SMITH:
And this points to, your line, your theory that there really is a larger conspiracy at hand.

STEPHEN JONES:
Well there's either a larger conspiracy or a different conspiracy. But what is troubling here is that the prosecutors, in effect, according to this grand juror's allegation, took away from the grand jury their duty to go after the full story, not just concentrating on the two people that had already been arrested.

HARRY SMITH:
Have you had a chance to look at the, Lana Padilla's(sp?) book?

STEPHEN JONES:
I have looked at it.

HARRY SMITH:
And what do you think about that? Because she would also suggest that there may be more goin' on here.

STEPHEN JONES:
Well, I think it's quite clear that she's trying to make money off of this tragedy. She and my client have never even met. So anything that she says about Tim McVeigh is idle speculation, hearsay.

HARRY SMITH:
Stephen Jones, from Enid, Oklahoma this morning. Thank you very much for your time.

STEPHEN JONES:
Thank you, Harry.


I encourage distribution of "Conspiracy Nation."


For information on how to receive the new Conspiracy Nation Newsletter, send an e-mail message to bigred@shout.net
Want to know more about Whitewater, Oklahoma City bombing, etc? (1) telnet prairienet.org (2) logon as "visitor" (3) go citcom
Aperi os tuum muto, et causis omnium filiorum qui pertranseunt. Aperi os tuum, decerne quod justum est, et judica inopem et pauperem. -- Liber Proverbiorum XXXI: 8-9
O what fine thought we had because we thought | bigred@shout.net That the worst rogues and rascals had died out. | Illinois, -- W.B. Yeats, "Nineteen Hundred And Nineteen" | I'm your boy.