2 Sides in Bombing Case Discuss Trial Issues : Terrorism: Suspects Timothy J. McVeigh and Terry L. Nichols will be arraigned today. Defense draws up schedule for U.S. to turn over evidence.

With court arraignments scheduled for this morning, defense attorneys and prosecutors in the Oklahoma City bombing case met for the first time Monday to begin discussing such issues as the location of the trial and whether Timothy J. McVeigh and Terry L. Nichols should stand trial together.

Settling in behind closed doors at the U.S. attorney’s office, the lawyers drew up a series of schedules under which prosecutors will begin turning over documents, grand jury testimony and other crucial points of evidence in the bombing four months ago of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

This morning, McVeigh, 27, and Nichols, 40, are to appear at separate arraignment hearings at the U.S. District Courthouse next door to the blast site.

They have spent the summer behind bars at a federal prison in El Reno, Okla. When they arrive at the courthouse to enter expected pleas of not guilty, it could mark the first time they have seen one another since the April 19 blast that killed 168 people and injured hundreds more.

The lawyers’ meeting lasted just under two hours. Stephen Jones, McVeigh’s attorney, said they agreed to hold the arraignments this morning and to schedule timetables for legal motions and other discovery matters in the case.

They did not resolve more significant issues, such as a possible change of venue and whether the defendants should be tried separately, Jones said.

“Discussions on these other matters continue,” he said. “They were friendly discussions but without an agreement.” Defense attorneys argue for moving the trial because they believe the jury pool in Oklahoma has been irretrievably tainted by massive publicity and by a casualty count so high that nearly everyone in the area knew at least one victim.

Asked whether prosecutors were receptive to moving the trial, Jones said: “Well, they didn’t throw us out of the room when we began to discuss it.”

Jones’ top choices for a new trial site are Charleston, W.Va.; San Francisco, Portland, Ore., and Seattle.

But Jones noted that the government insists the trial remain in the state of Oklahoma. “So,” he said, “we’re far apart.”

Nichols’ attorney, Michael E. Tigar, declined to discuss the meeting. He ducked out a side door to elude reporters. But when he arrived for the meeting, he recalled that prosecutors had told him earlier that after the indictments were filed, the defense would be able to “enjoy” its right to obtain and review the government’s evidence.

“So we’re here today to begin our enjoyment,” Tigar said.

Joseph Hartzler, the special lead prosecutor in the case, said he hopes the case can move smoothly toward trial and that lawyers on both sides do not get tied up in legal bickering.

“I will always try to handle it professionally, lawyer to lawyer,” he said.

He suggested that the Monday session was a sign that the case can proceed cordially. “Routinely,” he said, “in cases where there are indictments, when you meet with defense lawyers and there are [multiple] defendants, you discuss and cover every issue that might arise.”

In other developments Monday, the local medical examiner, Dr. Fred Jordan, said a leg found at the blast site has not been matched with any of the dead. Jordan, however, said his office has not yet increased the fatality count to 169.

Rather, he said, he is waiting for DNA examinations and skin tissue tests to be conducted by the FBI in Washington before ruling on whether another victim was killed.

Jones has maintained that the leg could have belonged to the bomber. He has argued that since the limb was clad in a military-style boot and what appears to be military-style camouflage pants, it could turn out that the bomber was a paramilitary survivalist.

Government sources said investigators are checking whether any homeless people might be missing in the Oklahoma City area. It could take several months before scientific tests are completed on the leg.