Nichols Requests Prosecutors Resign

Oklahoma-based federal prosecutors should resign from Terry Nichols’ trial because they have an emotional stake in the outcome, former federal prosecutors told his lawyers in an informal poll.

Nichols’ attorneys submitted the poll of 23 former U.S. attorneys Monday as part of a motion asking U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch to disqualify the Oklahoma-based prosecutors from his trial, set for Sept. 29.

Prosecutors have asked Matsch to deny the motion, saying, “It might be convenient for defendants to have a right of first refusal as to their prosecutors but the law does not accord any such right.”

Nichols’ attorney, Ron Woods, summarized the Oklahoma City prosecutors’ actions at Timothy McVeigh’s trial, including times when they cried during victims’ testimony.

Nichols faces the death penalty if convicted of murder and weapons-related counts in the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.