Advertisement

Court again rejects Nichols case

WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- The Supreme Court on Monday again rejected a request from Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols for review of his case.

Nichols claimed being tried in state court for the same actions that led to his conviction in federal court put him in unconstitutional double jeopardy.

Advertisement

The Supreme Court rejected his case without comment in a one-line order.

In October, the Supreme Court rejected a separate petition from Nichols asking his case be reheard in light of thousands of FBI documents withheld from his federal defense team.

Nichols's action was separate from that of convicted Oklahoma bomber Timothy McVeigh, who underwent lethal injection on June 11 in the first federal execution in decades.

The explosion that struck the federal building in April 1995 took the lives of 168 men, women and children and injured hundreds more.

McVeigh was captured shortly after the bombing in a routine traffic stop. Nichols was implicated in the case because of his connection to McVeigh, and because of witnesses who said both men used aliases to gather materials for the bomb.

Though McVeigh was sentenced to death for committing the actual bombing, Nichols received life in prison following a federal trial for his lesser role. However, if Nichols is convicted on pending state charges, he also could face the death penalty.

Advertisement

--

(No. 01-6794, Nichols vs. Oklahoma)

Latest Headlines