Judge Removed From Bomb Trial

The judge in the federal building bombing trial was removed Friday by an appeals court that said his close ties to the deadly attack could raise doubts about his impartiality.

U.S. District Judge Wayne Alley’s courtroom and chambers were one block away from the explosion April 19 that killed 169 people. Alley was not in the office at the time, but one member of his staff was injured and his building was damaged in the blast.

“We conclude that a reasonable person could not help but harbor doubts about the impartiality of Judge Alley,” the court wrote.

The ruling was made by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

Michael Tigar, the attorney for defendant Terry Nichols, filed a motion to remove Alley because of his proximity to the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The appeals court has now directed its chief judge to reassign the case to a judge from outside the state.

“We have also balanced the possible questioning of impartiality by a reasonable person against the relative ease of replacing Judge Alley with an available judge from a very large pool of judges outside the state of Oklahoma,” the court said.

U.S. Attorney Patrick Ryan was disappointed with the ruling, but said he would rather the court dismiss Alley now rather than cite him as a factor during the appeal of any convictions in the case.

The defense wants the case moved out of Oklahoma, which McVeigh’s attorney Stephen Jones said is a possibility in light of the appeals court ruling. Alley had moved the trial to Lawton, about 90 miles southwest of the bombing site.

Jones said Charleston, W. Va., would be his first choice and San Francisco his second.