Posted on 08/03/2002 8:33:10 AM PDT by Wallaby
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Judge sentences ex-marshal to three months
Associated Press August 3, 2002, Saturday, BC cycle 12:28 AM Eastern Time
OKLAHOMA CITY
A federal judge sentenced a former deputy U.S. marshal on Friday to three months in prison for lying about a sexual affair with an alternate juror in the trial of bomber Timothy McVeigh.
Benny Bailey pleaded guilty in May to lying to U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch, who had asked him about the relationship when McVeigh's attorney raised the issue in 1998.
Matsch oversaw the federal trials of McVeigh and co-defendant Terry Nichols. On Friday, two federal prosecutors testified on Bailey's behalf and another federal judge supported Bailey by saying it was out of character for him to lie.
Bailey had asked Nottingham to depart from the guidelines and to impose only probation because his lie was atypical of his behavior.
But U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham said a prison term was necessary because of the seriousness of perjury and to deter others from committing perjury.
"What was at issue here was nothing less than the integrity of the McVeigh verdict."
"What was at issue here was nothing less than the integrity of the McVeigh verdict," Nottingham told Bailey, who retired in 2000 as a supervisory deputy marshal after 30 years as a federal employee.
Nottingham ordered Bailey, 53, to serve three months of home detention after he is released from prison and to pay a $2,000 fine.
The judge said sentencing guidelines specify confinement of between 6 and 12 months under the circumstances in Bailey's case.
Bailey apologized to Nottingham. Outside the courtroom, he said he must "do what I've got to do and go on about my business."
McVeigh was convicted in 1997 and executed last year for the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, in which 168 people died.
McVeigh's attorney, Rob Nigh, had asked to look into an anonymous letter claiming Bailey and the juror had an affair during the trial and he tried to convince her of McVeigh's guilt. Matsch denied the request.
The affair, Nigh's effort to see if it affected McVeigh's trial and Matsch's secret inquiry did not become public until last year when Bailey was charged with a crime.
The alternate juror did not take part in deliberations because alternate jurors were not needed to replace any of the 12 active jurors.
The affair began after the trial, according to the indictment of Bailey.
Nigh later said he did not believe Matsch would have allowed him to investigate the tip even if Bailey had told the truth, according to Bailey's lawyer, Peter Bornstein.
"Mr. Bailey did not lie to protect himself, but to protect the integrity of the McVeigh verdict," Bailey's attorney said in a court filing.
"Mr. Bailey did not lie to protect himself, but to protect the integrity of the McVeigh verdict," Bailey's attorney said in a court filing."
Justice in action ping.
"A federal judge sentenced a former deputy U.S. marshal on Friday to three months in prison for lying about a sexual affair with an alternate juror in the trial of bomber Timothy McVeigh. "
I don't really see where Section 1623 of Title 18 of the US criminal code really makes any distinction. Former Marshal Bailey is a convicted felon now:
US Code, Title 18, Section 1623:
False declarations before grand jury or court
(a)
Whoever under oath (or in any declaration, certificate, verification, or statement under penalty of perjury as permitted under section 1746 of title 28, United States Code) in any proceeding before or ancillary to any court or grand jury of the United States knowingly makes any false material declaration or makes or uses any other information, including any book, paper, document, record, recording, or other material, knowing the same to contain any false material declaration, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
(b)
This section is applicable whether the conduct occurred within or without the United States.
(c)
An indictment or information for violation of this section alleging that, in any proceedings before or ancillary to any court or grand jury of the United States, the defendant under oath has knowingly made two or more declarations, which are inconsistent to the degree that one of them is necessarily false, need not specify which declaration is false if -
(1)
each declaration was material to the point in question, and
(2)
each declaration was made within the period of the statute of limitations for the offense charged under this section.
In any prosecution under this section, the falsity of a declaration set forth in the indictment or information shall be established sufficient for conviction by proof that the defendant while under oath made irreconcilably contradictory declarations material to the point in question in any proceeding before or ancillary to any court or grand jury. It shall be a defense to an indictment or information made pursuant to the first sentence of this subsection that the defendant at the time he made each declaration believed the declaration was true.
(d)
Where, in the same continuous court or grand jury proceeding in which a declaration is made, the person making the declaration admits such declaration to be false, such admission shall bar prosecution under this section if, at the time the admission is made, the declaration has not substantially affected the proceeding, or it has not become manifest that such falsity has been or will be exposed.
(e)
Proof beyond a reasonable doubt under this section is sufficient for conviction. It shall not be necessary that such proof be made by any particular number of witnesses or by documentary or other type of evidence
What integrity?
They couldn't kill him fast enough.
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