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Jury selection tough for Nichols's trial
McALESTER, Okla. (AP) -- Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols watched Tuesday as one after another prospective juror for his state murder trial said they thought he was guilty. More than 20 potential jurors were disqualified Tuesday, many after saying they could not be impartial. Nichols, already serving a life sentence, could face the death penalty if convicted on state murder charges.
"I believe he's guilty and I don't believe I could be fair," prospective juror Jamie Rue Secrest told District Judge Steven Taylor.
Taylor excused her from the jury pool.
Dressed in a sports coat and an open-collared shirt, Nichols showed no emotion as several potential jurors said they considered him guilty. He smiled broadly when one said she planned to ask for the court clerk's help with a parking ticket.
Attorneys must pick 12 jurors and six alternates to hear Nichols' trial on 161 counts of first-degree murder in the April 19, 1995, bombing -- a trial that could last six months. Jury selection is expected to take two weeks.
Responding to requests, Taylor gave media outlets turns in watching the juror screening sessions Tuesday. The Associated Press was the first news organization permitted inside.
More than 60 jurors have been questioned during two days of jury selection, and about half were excused. Those not eliminated were ordered back for more questioning.
Nichols was convicted of federal charges for the deaths of eight federal law enforcement officers in the bombing. The state charges are for the remaining victims and an unborn child whose mother died in the blast.
Prosecutors say Nichols, 48, helped Timothy McVeigh build the fertilizer-and-fuel-oil bomb used in the attack. McVeigh was convicted on federal murder charges and executed in 2001.
The trial was moved about 130 miles from Oklahoma City to McAlester, but defense attorneys have argued that pretrial publicity makes it impossible to find impartial jurors anywhere in the state.
Some of the prospective jurors said they could consider the case objectively. Court rules prohibit public release of the names of prospective jurors not yet eliminated.
