Waco Cultists Are Acquitted of Murder Charges : Trial: Outcome indicates jurors placed most of the blame for the violence on the government. Seven of the 11 Branch Davidians are convicted on lesser charges.

Dealing a sharp blow to the government, jurors on Saturday acquitted all 11 members of the Branch Davidian cult accused of murder and murder-conspiracy in the deaths of four federal agents who stormed their compound near Waco, Tex., a year ago.

Most of the defendants were convicted of lesser charges. Five were convicted of aiding and abetting voluntary manslaughter in the deaths of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents. Those five and two others were also found guilty of weapons possession charges. Four cult members were cleared of all charges.

The murder and murder-conspiracy charges would have carried a maximum punishment of life in prison. Conviction on the voluntary manslaughter charges could bring sentences of up to 10 years. No date was set for sentencing.

Although most of the defendants were convicted of some offenses, the acquittals on the most serious charges indicated that jurors believed the ATF--and not cult members, whose lawyers had argued they acted only in self-defense--was largely responsible for the violence.

Defense attorney Terry Kirk sought to make that point in telling reporters outside the courthouse: “The nerve of the federal government to do what they did on Feb. 28, and then come into a courtroom and file a brief saying: ‘Oh, if it’s a federal agent, you don’t have the right of self-defense, you have to take a bullet in the head.’

“Well, the judge didn’t buy it, the American people most assuredly would not have bought it, and that’s the message the jury sent.”

Ray Jahn, the chief prosecutor, said in reaction to the verdicts that “these agents were a group of very brave men and women who walked into a murderous ambush and demonstrated their courage.”

Asked if the verdict was a statement against the use of excessive force by police agencies, Jahn said that “if there was excessive force, that needs to be resolved in the court, not from the barrel of a gun.”

“Those agents did not die in vain,” said prosecutor Bill Johnston, tears in his eyes. “I want to tell everyone in law enforcement throughout this wonderful country and especially in the ATF to keep their chin up. . . . Seven individuals out of 11 have been convicted.”

Atty. Gen. Janet Reno told reporters in Washington that the convictions on lesser counts “indicate that the killing of these four ATF agents was unjustified.”

She said federal law enforcement officials will focus on developing “systems and procedures to see that a tragedy like this will never happen again.”

Members of the jury were not available for comment. Jurors deliberated for four days after hearing six weeks of testimony in a San Antonio courtroom. The case was moved from Waco because of pretrial publicity.

Jurors reached their decision just short of the first anniversary of the bloody raid on Feb. 28, 1993, in which the agents and six Davidians died. The assault led to a 51-day standoff at the cult’s Mt. Carmel compound.

On April 19, FBI armored vehicles battered the cult compound and pumped in tear gas in an effort to end the standoff. Hours later, the compound went up in flames. Prosecutors claimed cult members set the blaze in a mass suicide.

Cult leader David Koresh and about 80 followers, including 18 children, died. Koresh and some other Davidians had been shot. However, a number of cult members, including most of the defendants, either left the compound during the standoff or escaped the inferno.

The verdicts brought tears of joy from several defendants.

Clive Doyle, a 52-year-old native Australian who is a naturalized U.S. citizen, was among those acquitted of all charges. He wept when he told reporters outside the courthouse: “I’m sorry there are four agents that are dead and a lot more that are wounded. Personally, I believe that those in charge of their agencies caused that.

“That’s my personal conviction, but we lost 85 of our friends and family too, and it was unnecessary.”

Woodrow (Bob) Kendrick, 63, another defendant freed Saturday, said through his tears that he is “still proud to be a Branch Davidian.” He described Koresh as having “had more compassion for all humankind than anyone I have ever met. . . . He loved the children like Christ did 2,000 years ago.”

The lone female defendant, Ruth Riddle, was convicted of a firearms violation, but U.S. District Judge Walter Smith Jr. promptly invalidated that decision on grounds that it did not apply to her case.

Riddle, 30, a Canadian citizen, and Norman Allison, a 29-year-old Briton who also was acquitted, are in the United States illegally and will be deported by immigration officials.

During the case, defense lawyers adopted a strategy of putting the government itself on trial, questioning the level of force used by the raiding party of 75 agents against the cult members, who the attorneys insisted were controlled, victimized and kept in the dark by a psychotic leader, Koresh.

During the trial, which started Jan. 12, prosecution witnesses testified that they saw the defendants bearing weapons the morning of the raid, but prosecutors were unable to show conclusively that the defendants had fired the shots that killed the four agents. They were among those agents seeking to serve arrest and search warrants on Koresh for illegal weapons purchases.

Defense lawyers said they were assisted by a federal investigative report last fall that concluded the initial ATF raid was conducted with poor supervision and that top ATF officials had lied in saying they thought they had maintained an element of surprise.

In reality, those authorities conducted the raid even after learning that Koresh had received advance warning and was waiting for the agents with automatic weapons, the report found.

Former ATF Director Stephen E. Higgins retired on the eve of the report, and five other officials criticized in the document took early retirement or were suspended.

John W. Magaw, the agency’s new director, said in a statement Saturday that jurors had “reached a conclusion that they alone are empowered to make.”

Praising the slain agents, Magaw said “they went to serve a lawful purpose but . . . were met with the most terrible hail of gunfire and explosives ever directed against American law enforcement.”

While conceding that human errors were made, he said that “mistakes do not justify the mass murder that David Koresh ordered on Feb. 28 and concluded on April 19.”

Shortly before announcing their verdicts, jurors again listened to a tape recording of a 911 call made by cult members the morning of the botched raid.

“Tell them there’s children and women in here and to call it off!” cult member Wayne Martin told a police dispatcher.

Defense lawyers argued that the recording showed that cult members were merely trying to defend themselves.

Doyle’s attorney, Dan Cogdell, told jurors that cultists not only had a right but a duty to defend themselves against excessive government force. He claimed that “the government has taken the position that as long as a person has a badge and gun, it doesn’t matter. They can hit your house with 75 agents, they can gas it . . . in the name of the law.”

After the verdict, Cogdell told reporters: “This says loud and clear to law enforcement that you don’t negotiate with tanks, you don’t assault a house with people inside, and you don’t bring a case that you can’t prove.”

Federal prosecutors, however, disputed claims that the ATF used excessive force, saying it was ludicrous to put the government on trial when the 11 cult members had the opportunity to walk away from the compound at any time.

Jackson reported from Washington and Hart from Houston.

The Waco Defendants

Here are sketches of the 11 Branch Davidians who were charged in the deaths of four federal agents. Those convicted Saturday will be sentenced at a later date:

NORMAN ALLISON, 29, of Manchester, Britain, acquitted of all charges. Accused of shooting at agents from ravine in separate, second gun battle. Federal agents testified he surrendered; one agent testified his pistol had not been fired.

RENOS AVRAAM, 29, former British businessman who survived the April 19 fire that killed cult leader David Koresh and 78 other Davidians, convicted of voluntary manslaughter. Prosecution witnesses said he had a rifle during gun battle or during standoff.

BRAD BRANCH, 34, convicted of voluntary manslaughter. Government witnesses testified that he shot at federal agents during the gun battle from upstairs rooms occupied by women and children, for which a prosecutor dubbed him a “sniveling coward.”

JAMIE CASTILLO, 25, fire survivor convicted of voluntary manslaughter. Witnesses testified he had a rifle during gun battle. Defense lawyers said Castillo was a musician who went to Koresh’s commune for music and “got hooked” on doomsday religion.

GRAEME CRADDOCK, 32, Australian citizen who survived the fire, convicted of possessing a grenade. Mother testified he was a senior deacon in Seventh-day Adventist Church and that violence at the compound was “opposite his personality.”

CLIVE DOYLE, 52, fire survivor acquitted of all charges. Witnesses testified that he carried a rifle and stood guard in the compound’s chapel during the standoff. His attorney argued he and others were defending their home against excessive government force.

LIVINGSTON FAGAN, 34, convicted of voluntary manslaughter. Former British social worker. Lost wife and mother in the fire. ATF agents testified that Fagan shot at them during gun battle.

PAUL FATTA, 35, convicted of conspiracy to unlawfully manufacture and possess machine guns and of aiding and abetting Koresh in unlawful possession of firearms. He was at a gun show in Austin, Tex., on the day of the shootout.

WOODROW (BOB) KENDRICK, 63, acquitted of all charges. Testimony showed he was not at compound during the shootout. Accused of being one of three men involved in second, separate gun battle with officers in ravine near compound.

RUTH RIDDLE, 30, conviction on firearms violation was thrown out by judge. Survived fire by jumping from second-story ledge. Husband died in the fire. Prosecution witnesses testified she had rifle during standoff.

KEVIN WHITECLIFF, 32, convicted of voluntary manslaughter. Former prison guard in Hawaii. Prosecutors claimed he shot at helicopters during the battle and was armed with a rifle during the standoff.

Source: Associated Press