8A
Thursday, April 17. 1997
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
McVeigh jury selection progresses slowly
By Michael Fleeman
The Associated Press
DENVER — At exactly 8:55 a.m. every day, U.S. marshals escort Timothy McVeigh into the courtroom. His smiling, boyish, red-cheeked face shows no signs of the deadly serious charges that hang over him.
He usually wears khakis and dress shirts with the sleeves rolled-up and an open-collar. His skin is prison pale, and he sports a prickly buzz cut. He is skinny.
He sits at the defense table and watches. Closely. Intently. Sometimes leaning forward, hands folded.
eyes glued to the jury box, watching a parade of people who may stand in his judgment, and may recommend his execution.
Jury selection for the Oklahoma City bombing trial has taken 13 days and has at least another week remaining. Much of the time, the scene in Judge Richard Matsch's courtroom conflicts with the gravity of the charges.
For one, there's the defendant who looks, well, innocent. The man accused of killing 168 people follows the proceedings with eyes of wonderment, like a boy who got to visit his first real-life courtroom. He
busily reads court papers and scribbles notes on legal pads.
When introduced to prospective jurors, McVeigh stands awkwardly, as if he were about to be kissed by an
Timothy McVelgh
old aunt, and mumbles a good morning that sounds like "Guh morn."
Then he sits down, and the judge and lawyers take over.
Here, the proceedings are a mixture of tedium, intensity, poignancy and low humor as the lawyers probe the prospective jurors' psyches while shamelessly seeking to ingratiate themselves with them.
The lawyers laugh at the jurors' jokes, lavish compliments on their accomplishments and act keenly interested in every aspect of their lives.
"You're a very interesting person because I have six different notes from my colleagues of things they want to talk to you about," prosecutor Patrick Ryan told a New York-bred music teacher who is blind in one eye.
Another prosecutor, Larry
Mackey, once told a possible juror how fascinating it was that each candidate was so unique. It was a comment of great understatement. The prospective juror was a self-described witch.
Although he can be tough, even cruel, to the lawyers—"Sustained!" he growls —the judge is warm, friendly and grandfatherly to the jurors.
In his gravelly voice, he explains to them in great detail how the criminal justice system works, its basic principles of presumption of innocence and burden of proof, and what their role would be as jurors.
Despite his reputation as a no-nonsense jurist, he can be loquacious.
It sometimes takes him as long as 10 minutes to say good morning, introduce the lawyers and McVeigh and tell jurors they may change any answers they made on their questionnaires.
He once asked a woman who makes stained-glass windows how she copes with lead fumes. The lowa-raised judge asks ranchers about fluctuations in beef prices and farmers about spring crops.
The judge will let morning sessions run well into the lunch break and occasionally extend court past 5 p.m. But his mind is always on the clock.
Gingrich soon to decide how to pay ethics penalty
House speaker may need loan
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Newt Gingrich told fellow Republicans yesterday that he was near a decision on a method for paying his $300,000 ethics penalty.
Several sources said Gingrich also was contemplating establishing an account akin to a legal defense fund
Several Republicans said Gingrich appeared to be leaning in favor of paying the entire $300,000 himself, with the help of a loan. These officials added that a second option under consideration included soliciting supporters for donations to a legal defense fund to cover part of the costs.
into which his personal funds would flow. This fund
how this rule would make the payment to the House. These sources said that this was being discussed because Ginrich wanted to avoid establishment of a precedent under which individual
Newt Gingrich
members of Congress would directly pay the House. Christina Martin, Gingrich's press secretary, said no final decision had been made about the matter.
Gingrich declined comment about the subject. In a GOP caucus, however, he said he was near a decision, and would inform the GOP rank-and-
file before he announced it.
Gingrich has faced ethics charges since he assumed the speakership more than two years ago. After nearly two years of denials, he admitted in December to violating House rules. In what amounted to a political plea bargain, he said that he had failed to seek proper legal advice on using tax-exempt projects to advance his political goals, and that inaccurate statements "in my name and over my signature" had been submitted to the ethics committee.
As part of a negotiated settlement, the House voted in January to reprimand him and imposed the $300,000 penalty.
While tapping campaign funds or soliciting donations to cover the penalty would be legal, several Republicans have told Gingrich he risked a career-ending controversy if he didn't make the payment from personal funds.
Army hears rape accusation
The Associated Press
ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — A 23-year-old soldier testified yesterday that her drill sergeant repeatedly summoned her and raped her eight times in four months, controlling her as if she were a puppet.
The woman, testifying at the court-martial of Staff Sgt. Delmar Simpson, said she did not report him because of pride and embarrassment.
The trial is the first to emerge from an Army sex scandal at Aberdeen that prompted a militarywide investigation of sexual misconduct.
Of the 12 Aberdeen soldiers charged with criminal sexual misconduct, Simpson, 32, is accused of the most serious offenses. He is charged with raping six women whom he had commanded.
fied yesterday was a trainee at the time of the alleged rapes, which she said took place between September and December 1995 in Simpson's office, empty barracks rooms and his off-base apartment.
"I felt like I was a puppet, and I had strings attached to me in a marionette way telling me what I should do," she said.
The Army specialist who testi-
She said the most disturbing attack was when Simpson ordered her to his office after morning formation, took off her uniform and raped her.
"It felt even worse than any of the other times because I was in my uniform," she said. "That was something to me, and he was stripping me of it."
As the only woman in her Aberdeen training class, she lived in a different barracks than her Bravo Company colleagues. Her room was in the same building as Simpson's office.
The attacks began in her first weeks at the base, as she searched for a lamp in a storage room, she said.
Simpson cornered her in the room and locked the door, she said. He then pulled off her shorts as she struggled to keep them on, she said.
He pushed her onto a bed, held her hands above her head with one hand while he opened a condom with his free hand and teeth and raped her, she said.
On other occasions, Simpson ordered her to his office and raped her, she testified. Later, he brought her to his apartment twice for sex, and she stayed overnight, she said.
She said she did not report any of the incidents because she did not want other soldiers to think badly of her.
Simpson is charged with 58 crimes. He could get life in prison for a single rape conviction.
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