BY BRIAN TAYLOR
Circumstantial and mishandled evidence, irrelevant details, emotional testimony from bomb survivors, and witnesses who have been granted immunity from prosecution are at the heart of the government's case against Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. They are charged with bombing the Oklahoma City Federal Building in 1995, killing 168 people. McVeigh, who faces the death penalty, is currently on trial in Denver, Colorado; Nichols will be tried later.

Nearly every day prosecutors have put survivors and relatives of those killed in the blast on the stand to tell the jury of their pain and suffering. Other "evidence" has included footage from a surveillance camera showing a rental truck like the one in which the bomb was allegedly placed passing near the federal building shortly before the blast. The video doesn't show who is driving the truck.

Steven Burmeister, the chief chemist of the FBI's chemistry-toxicology unit, was forced to admit to unprofessional work under cross-examination. For example the clothes allegedly worn by McVeigh on the day of the bombing were stored in a rolled up paper bag. When asked if a rolled up bag is considered sealed from a forensic point of view, Burmeister replied, "If it's not open, it's somewhat sealed." The cop chemist said he waited months before even asking if the police who handled McVeigh's clothes had earlier come into contact with any explosives. Burmeister also acknowledged that the FBI ran no tests for explosive residues on an Army truck before they used it to transport items from Nichols's house.

FBI mishandling of evidence
The defense attempted to cite recent findings of FBI crime laboratory negligence, released in mid-April, but Judge Richard Matsch blocked this effort. The April investigation found that Burmeister's unit was so marked by misconduct that FBI officials had to review hundreds of cases where evidence might be contaminated. Inspector general Michael Bromwich stated the FBI on numerous occasions issued sloppy reports, exaggerated evidence against the defendants' interests, and inadequately documented their findings.

In the Oklahoma bombing case, Bromwich concludes that one of the FBI agents, David Williams, gave "conclusions not on a valid scientific analysis, but on speculation." He also says Williams "tilted" his findings to incriminate the defendants by asserting that the bomb was composed of ANFO (ammonium nitrate and fuel oil) not from a chemical analysis, but instead because of hindsight knowledge that the defendants allegedly purchased ANFO. One of the investigators on the scene admitted to picking up two pieces of evidence before the cop photographer shot pictures, then putting the objects back so they could be photographed. He denied accusations of planting evidence.

In other testimony, Eldon Elliot, who owns the rental lot where the truck used in the bombing allegedly came from, identified McVeigh as the man renting the vehicle. His reason for being sure: he looks all his customers "square in the face." His height estimate for McVeigh was off by several inches, and he could not remember a thing McVeigh was wearing. Elliot has used the publicity from the bombing case to advertise his rental business.

An FBI report concluded that McVeigh's fingerprints weren't on the rental contract or anywhere in the offices of the truck rental agency. Nor were his fingerprints in the storage areas where he allegedly kept the explosive chemicals, or in the hotel room he allegedly rented. Prints from Nichols were found on a motel registration card signed in his alleged alias, but not in conjunction with these events.

Photos of a man said to be McVeigh, in a McDonald's restaurant more than a mile away from the truck rental, are supposed to support the assertion that McVeigh went to the rental site.

Testifying in hopes of lighter sentence
Michael Fortier, a supposed friend and Army colleague of McVeigh, testified that McVeigh and Nichols invited him to join in the bombing of the building. Fortier, who admitted in court to selling drugs and stealing, has pled guilty to charges that include not telling cops of the alleged bomb plot. He faces up to 23 years in prison, but will not be sentenced until after the McVeigh and Nichols trials. In taped conversations, Fortier was previously insistent of McVeigh's innocence. His wife, Lori Fortier, also testified against McVeigh.

Jennifer McVeigh, Timothy's sister, has also taken the stand against him. She changed her story after initially arguing his innocence. On the stand, she said agents threatened to charge her with treason and other crimes punishable by the death penalty. She said she was questioned eight or nine hours a day for "eight days straight." Speaking under a grant of immunity, she testified that McVeigh's ideas were radical and hostile to the government. She said he wrote her letters and sent clippings that implied plans to blow up a building, but says she burned the most explicit of these.

From the beginning, the prosecution and capitalist media have tried to point to McVeigh's rightist views as proof of guilt. Among the testimony used to support this speculation is that he called federal agents "fascist tyrants," nicknamed his car the "Warrior," and expressed outrage at the government for the massacre carried out by the Clinton administration on the Branch Davidians religious sect in Waco, Texas.

Washington has used the Oklahoma City bombing as a pretext to attack democratic rights. Immediately following the blast, U.S. president William Clinton shoved several pieces of legislation through Congress in the name of fighting terrorism. Included are measures to increase government spying, allow for warrantless searches, and make it more difficult for prisoners on death row to appeal their sentence.  
 
 
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