Posted on 10/12/2002 3:06:30 AM PDT by glorygirl
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- One of Oklahoma City's most prominent attorneys believes he and a colleague can represent bombing co-conspirator Terry Nichols in his state case for $1 million plus expenses. Irven Box and John Albert made the offer in a Sept. 26 letter to the judge overseeing the preliminary hearing, The Daily Oklahoman reported.
''We would agree to sign a contract and represent Terry Nichols from the date of the signing of the contract until the case is resolved in state district court,'' Box wrote District Judge Ray Dean Linder.
''Mr. Albert and I combined more than likely have tried more death penalty cases than any other attorneys in the state of Oklahoma.''
Nichols, 47, has been charged with 160 counts of first-degree murder in the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. A federal jury convicted Nichols of involuntary manslaughter for the deaths of eight federal agents killed in the blast. He was given a life sentence.
In the state case, Nichols' court-appointed lead attorney, Brian Hermanson of Ponca City, has four other lawyers helping him.
They have spent $1.7 million so far and are seeking more money. Hermanson has told the Oklahoma Supreme Court he will withdraw from the case if he doesn't get a written guarantee of future funding.
Box said he was encouraged to write the letter by other attorneys and by judges who ''thought the system looked really bad because all this money has been spent and nothing has been done.''
Box already is familiar with much of the evidence from his role as a legal analyst for media outlets.
He attended bomber Timothy McVeigh's federal trial and Nichols' federal trial in 1997 in Denver.
''I've seen witnesses on the stand,'' Box said. ''I've seen their demeanor. I've seen what I think their strong points are and their weak points are.''
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