Legal Analysts Say Death Penalty Unlikely For Nichols Manslaughter Conviction In Oklahoma City Bombing Not Capital Offense

Even if jurors order it, execution will be unlikely for Terry Nichols - at least in the federal judicial system. If the jury ordered it, the U.S. Supreme Court probably would overturn it, legal analysts say.

“The odds at this point of ever strapping Terry Nichols to a table and killing him are very, very small,” said Denver criminal defense attorney David Lane. “I would also say the odds of this jury sentencing Terry Nichols to death are very, very small.”

That jury of seven women and five men will begin hearing today from some 60 witnesses the defense team lined up.

The jury convicted Nichols on Dec. 23 of conspiring with Timothy McVeigh to use a weapon of mass destruction in the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

But the panel found him not guilty of eight counts of first-degree murder. Instead, it convicted him of involuntary manslaughter. Jurors also acquitted him of two other counts: actually using the weapon and destroying the building.

Conviction on the conspiracy count, however, still carries the possibility of a death sentence, so U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch ordered the penalty hearing, which began Monday.

Prosecutors rested Wednesday after calling 55 witnesses who told heartbreaking stories about some of the 168 people who died in the bombing.

Options jurors have are to sentence Nichols to life in prison or turn his sentencing over to the judge.

By convicting him of involuntary manslaughter, jurors decided Nichols did not have the intent to kill that’s required for a first- or second-degree murder conviction.

If the jury ordered Nichols’ death, the U.S. Supreme Court would likely be interested in hearing the case, several analysts said.

“The U.S. Supreme Court has broadly hinted in prior cases that first-degree murder is the only crime under which the death penalty can be imposed,” Lane said. “Nichols was not convicted of first-degree murder.”

While Nichols may avoid a federal death sentence, analysts said the state of Oklahoma could kill him. Officials in Oklahoma City have said they will try him and McVeigh on 160 counts of murder.