From: [i--s--t] at [delphi.com] Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns Subject: Davidian Trial Report Feb 17 Date: Tue, 22 Feb 94 01:22:36 -0500 The following is the text of an article in the San Antonio Express-News reporting on the events in the Branch Davidian trial on February 17, 1994. ========================================================================== Davidians' lawyers question 11 witnesses then rest case By Diana R. Fuentes Express-News Staff Writer The defense in the Branch Davidian murder-conspiracy trial rested Thursday after calling 11 witnesses and none of the defendants, who exercised their constitutional right to the presumption of innocence. Also Thursday, U.S. District Judge Walter S. Smith Jr. talked to defense attorneys and prosecutors about anti-government literature mailed to the homes of several jurors under cover of official state envelopes. Defense attorneys said they called only 11 witnesses because much of the testimony they wanted the jury to hear was given by prosecution witnesses during cross-examination. Defense attorneys' final evidence came from firearms dealer Henry McMahon, whose testimony was presented by agreement with the government. The jury was told that McMahon said agents of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms came to his home to review his records of dealings with sect leader David Koresh, with whom he was in business. "The agents were informed that Mr. Koresh was on the phone, and the agents refused the invitation to talk to him," said defense attorney Mike DeGeurin, who read the statements by McMahon that the prosecution had accepted. ATF agents tried to raid the Branch Davidian living compound known as Mount Carmel on Feb. 28 to arrest Koresh and serve a search warrant. The failed raid sparked a fatal gunbattle, which led to a 51-day siege that ended April 19 when fire destroyed the compound. Eleven people are on trial in federal court, accused of conspiring to murder four ATF agents and other offenses. Defense attorneys and prosecutors were expected to argue Friday over what points of law the jury will be allow to consider in deciding the fate of the defendants. Smith is to make the final decisions. Closing arguments are scheduled to begin Tuesday morning. Monday is President's Day, a federal holiday. Thursday morning opened with attorney Jack Zimmermann, who visited Mount Carmel during the siege, still on the stand. "Is self-defense a defense to murder?" asked defense attorney Dan Cogdell, going to the heart of the defense's case. "Absolutely," Zimmermann managed to get out before prosecutors objected to the question and Smith sustained the objection. Under cross-examination by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Johnston, Zimmermann testified that defendant Graeme Craddock told him about "a plan to firebomb a Bradley." Under questioning by a defense attorney, Zimmermann said Craddock told him that Branch Davidian Wayne Martin had told Craddock that throwing a Molotov cocktail "was a last resort if a tank was actually attacking the people," and that "firebomb" was Zimmermann's word, not Craddock's. Later, Dorothy June Craddock of Victoria, Australia, testified that Graeme Craddock, her son, is a "very quiet ... very kind person" whose personality is "opposite" to the gun-toting, calculating type of people the prosecution has painted as inhabiting the compound. Mrs. Craddock testified that Graeme sent her a letter in December 1992 suggesting he soon would leave the compound. "I don't know how much longer I'm going to stay here," the letter states. "I wasn't expecting to stay this long, but I don't think it'll be too much longer. In any case, I definitely can't stay here forever." Sandra Sawyer, 40, of Denver testified a "flash-bang" device thrown by police during a raid on a friend's home nearly severed her right arm. Sawyer's testimony, which was not directly related to the Branch Davidian case, was an apparent attempt to counter prosecution testimony that the devices cause only temporary discomfort. Rob Milford of Orlando, Fla., said he saw defendant Paul Fatta on Feb. 27 and 28 at an Austin gun show. Fatta was selling mostly army surplus-type gear and "a few weapons" he said. Milford said he talked to the FBI about Fatta after seeing Fatta's picture on a television report that said he was on the agency's 10 Most Wanted list. "I thought, 'Son of a gun, that's Paul Fatta. I was set up next to him at the gun show!'" Milford said. Before testimony resumed Thursday morning, inspector Mickey Dahl of the U.S. Marshals Service gave a message to Smith as he took the bench. Smith promptly called for a private meeting in his chambers with prosecutors and defense attorneys. Later, sources said the judge was "very concerned" about literature mailed to eight jurors, whose identities and addresses are supposed to be confidential. During the early days of the trial, jurors received a mass mailing from a group that favors "fully informing" juries. The mailing, which urged jurors to "vote your conscience," apparently was sent to thousands of area residents who could be called to jury duty, not just the 18 jurors -- there are six alternates -- hearing the Branch Davidian case. The material received by the eight jurors this week apparently was sent only to them and to a prospective juror -- it included information about what has been going on in the courtroom during the trial. U.S. Marshal Bill Jonas said the situation was being investigated. "We thought we had taken care of the problem," Jonas said. "It is my understanding that Inspector Dahl, who has the security responsibility for the trial, is making some inquiries. "We're trying to determine how some information may be getting to certain jurors. We're seeking the guidance of Judge Smith on it." If there is evidence of jury tampering, Jonas said, the FBI will be called into the case. Late Thursday, FBI agent Nancy Wilson said "no comment" when asked whether an investigation was under way. ========================================================================== Commentary: A source said that Judge Smith was "livid" over the FIJA literature reaching the jurors. The original literature consisted of the standard information package sent out to new members of FIJA, the Fully Informed Jury Association. This is a thick, tabloid-sized newsletter containing news and essays on jury rights and history. The packages were sent to the registered owners of all the motor vehicles parked in the vicinity of the federal courthouse on the morning the trial began and the jury was empaneled. The names and addresses for vehicle license plates are a matter of public record in Texas. FIJA members also hand out leaflets to persons entering the Bexar county courthouse nearby each Monday and Wednesday morning as prospective jurors arrive. They were doing that for about a month or two before the Davidian Trial began. Nothing sent by the FIJA members mentions the Davidian trial. It only discusses jury rights in general, and the problem of judges instructing jurors to judge only the facts, and not the law, which is a departure from what jurors were told during the early days of the republic, when it was made clear that they were to judge the law as well as the facts, whether the law was constitutional or correctly applied in the case. It is interesting that such literature, which only tells the truth, is characterized by the judge as "anti-government", although it is not yet known what all was contained in the last mailing that went under cover of state envelopes, making it look official, or who sent it.