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Video analysis: The McVeigh case
(CNN) -- Attorneys for Timothy McVeigh are asking the court to delay the convicted Oklahoma City bomber's execution for a second time, claiming that the federal government committed a "fraud on the court" by failing to hand over hundreds of pages of documents before his trial. McVeigh's defense team filed a motion for a stay of his execution at the U.S. District Court in Denver, Colorado, on Thursday, just 11 days before he was scheduled to die for the April 19, 1995, bombing that killed 168 people. McVeigh had waived all appeals, and his attorneys said he had prepared to die before his original execution date, May 16, was pushed back because of the discovery of more than 3,100 pages of FBI documents and evidence. His attorneys said he is going forward now "on principal," to hold the government and the FBI accountable for overreaching.
"I think it is important for everybody to understand that the Constitution works for everybody, and the government has a responsibility and an obligation to ensure every citizen gets a fair trial," said McVeigh attorney Chris Tritico. "That's what this process is all about." Justice Department officials have strongly denied any wrongdoing, and U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said he will "oppose vigorously" any further delays. U.S. Attorney Sean Connelly denied there was any truth in the premise upon which McVeigh's lawyers based their petition. "We categorically deny that there has been any fraud in the court. The government in this case agreed to go far beyond what the law required, by producing documents that it was not required to produce under the law," he said. "The fraud in the court theory, we submit, is an attempt to circumvent the legal requirements of the 1996 law that limits petitioners in the position of Timothy McVeigh to a showing of actual innocence if they wish to avoid a death sentence." He will hear arguments at 9 a.m. Wednesday. |
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