BOMBING TRIAL MOVED TO DENVER\Judge says Nichols, McVeigh have been 'demonized' in Oklahoma.

Byline: The Dallas Morning News

A federal judge Tuesday moved the Oklahoma City bombing trial to Denver, ruling that a fair trial was impossible in a state where officials and the news media have "demonized" defendants Terry Nichols and Timothy McVeigh.

"There is so great a prejudice against these two defendants in the state of Oklahoma that they cannot obtain a fair and impartial trial at any place . . . in that state," U.S. District Judge Richard P. Matsch wrote. "They have been demonized."

The judge's ruling, issued Tuesday morning, embraced defense arguments that ensuring a fair trial must take precedence over the desire of survivors and families of the bombing victims to attend court proceedings.

The April 19 attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building killed 169 people and injured hundreds. McVeigh and Nichols could be sentenced to die by injection if convicted of masterminding the attack.

Tuesday's ruling resolves one of the key disputed issues in the bombing case. Yet to be decided are whether McVeigh and Nichols will be tried separately, and when the trial will begin.

Prosecutors had argued that the trial should be moved no farther than Tulsa, about 90 miles northeast of the bomb site, so victims' families could easily attend.

"The interests of the victims in being able to attend this trial in Oklahoma are outweighed by the court's obligation to assure that the trial be conducted with fundamental fairness," Judge Matsch wrote.

The ruling moves the trial more than 600 miles to Judge Matsch's home base, where he sits as chief judge for a judicial district that includes the entire state of Colorado.

In Oklahoma, some relatives of the blast victims expressed frustration at the decision and the difficulty it will impose on them.

"I'm really angry with the defense team for working so hard to move the trial when they know their clients are so clearly guilty," said Edye Smith, whose young sons Chase and Colton died in the blast. "I think a fair trial was possible here, too."

Others said they were most concerned with seeing whoever was responsible for the bombing fairly tried and punished.

"We're not out for vengeance. We want truth and justice," said Carolyn Templin, whose son-in-law, Scott Williams, died in the blast.

U.S. Justice Department officials in Washington and federal prosecutors in Oklahoma expressed disappointment over the ruling, and Attorney General Janet Reno said the government still believed that a fair trial could have been held in Oklahoma.

"The government does not have the right to appeal that decision, and so we are prepared to go forward expeditiously to trial," Reno said in a statement. She also said the government will do all it can to give survivors and victims' families access to the trial.

Stephen Jones of Enid, lead attorney for McVeigh's defense team, said he was "very pleased."

"Tulsa would have been part of the Oklahoma village. There would have continued to be this 'us versus them' atmosphere," said Jones, who has asked that his client remain in a federal prison in central Oklahoma until the trial.

In Denver, Jones said, a jury pool would be less emotionally involved and less likely to have fixed opinions on the case.

Because the judicial district includes all of Colorado, he said, it also offers a jury pool four times as large as that of the judicial district that includes Tulsa.

In Oklahoma City, Gov. Frank Keating condemned the move to Denver. "I'm disappointed with the decision of the court. I think it's in error. But I'm not a judge," he said.

The judge's ruling cites past comments from the governor and other officials as well as a continuing local media focus on bombing victims, as prejudicial influences on potential jurors throughout Oklahoma.