Federal Prosecution Team May Leave Bombing Case

The U.S. attorney in Oklahoma City and his prosecution team plan to bow out of the federal building bombing case if the trial is moved out of the state, a departure that could put the government at a serious disadvantage, officials said Thursday.

Steve Mullins, executive assistant U.S. attorney for the prosecution team here, told The Times that the local U.S. attorney’s office has “all but decided internally” that it would be prudent to step aside should U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch rule that the bombing was so catastrophic that a fair trial cannot be conducted anywhere in the state.

“It puts us at a disadvantage and we are mindful of that,” Mullins said. “But we are also aware of what signal it might send if we go with the case when an Oklahoma judge and an Oklahoma jury have already been removed.”

A hearing on where the trial should take place is underway now and a move to another state is considered likely.

Although the lead prosecutor, special assistant U.S. Atty. Joseph Hartzler of Springfield, Ill., would continue heading the team, Oklahoma City U.S. Atty. Patrick M. Ryan and his staff have played key roles in the case.

Replacing them “would be a big blow,” said Daniel Rinzel, a former Justice Department civil rights prosecutor who now is a Washington defense attorney. “In a complicated case, it takes months to get familiar with the details. I assume by this time there are rooms full of file drawers [of evidence]. It would be difficult for anybody coming in now to get a handle on this.”

Although prosecutors are expected to vigorously press the government’s charges in the bombing case, they seem to identify with the victims more than usual. This week, for instance, videotapes were played in the courtroom of the moments after the bombing, showing victims who were killed and those seriously injured in the downtown streets.

Sitting at the prosecution’s counsel table, both Ryan, the chief federal prosecutor here, and Vicki Behenna, an assistant U.S. attorney, lowered their heads and quietly cried.

“This case has had a tremendous personal impact on Pat Ryan,” Mullins said. “He really feels for the victims.”

Mullins said that government attorneys in the Oklahoma City office have decided that, if the trial is moved from Oklahoma, it would be better to have an outside prosecution team take on the case and thereby remove allegations of a conflict of interest for local prosecutors.

Mullins said that preliminary discussions with senior Justice Department officials have taken place in Washington on transferring the case and creating a new government team that would be responsible for prosecuting Timothy J. McVeigh and Terry L. Nichols if the trial is ordered moved out of the state.

Mullins emphasized that the proposed switch is not being dictated by Washington, but rather has been initiated by the trial team here.

Mullins said that local prosecutors are ready to go to trial now. A switch, however, would probably push back a trial date until September to allow the new team members to assemble in March and begin studying the tens of thousands of FBI interviews, documents and other pieces of evidence.

U.S. District Judge Wayne E. Alley of Oklahoma City was replaced by Matsch of Denver after the U.S. 10th Circuit Court ruled that there was a clear appearance of a conflict of interest for Alley because his courtroom and chambers were damaged in the bombing.

A total of 169 people were killed and 600 injured on April 19 when a truck bomb exploded in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

Serrano reported from Oklahoma City and Ostrow from Washington.