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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Mcveigh Wants No Reporters In TV Room

Compiled From Wire Services

Attorneys for bombing suspect Timothy McVeigh want to ban reporters from the Oklahoma City room where his trial in Denver will play out on closed-circuit TV.

“This court has already extended every reasonable accommodation to the media in this case,” the lawyers noted in Monday’s motion. “Nearly half the seats in the Denver courtroom have been set aside for media.”

The Colorado-Oklahoma Media Group, citing the constitutional right of public access to criminal trials, have asked Matsch to let reporters watch the TV feed in Oklahoma City, along with bombing victims and their relatives.

“The media group’s sense of entitlement is astonishing, given the clear legal realities,” McVeigh’s attorneys said in a brief filed Monday with U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch.

The media proposal “contemplates a proceeding with all the solemnity and dignity of a University of Oklahoma Sooners home football game,” the brief added.