Okla. Bombing Penalty Phase Opens

Terry Nichols escaped the death penalty once in federal court. Now, state prosecutors hope to secure an execution, having convinced jurors that the bombing conspirator is guilty of murder.

The penalty phase of Nichols' trial was scheduled to get under way Tuesday with prosecutors questioning survivors of the Oklahoma City bombing and members of victims' families.

Before the hearing began, Judge Steven Taylor ruled that rescuers could testify about the experiences of victims of the bombing. Defense attorneys wanted to block testimony from about 20 rescuers who are among dozens of people expected to take the witness stand in the penalty phase.

Nichols' six-man, six-woman jury found Nichols guilty of 161 counts of first-degree murder on Wednesday, just five hours after they began deliberating a verdict.

That could prove to be a huge favor for Nichols, says CBSNews.com Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen.

"By failing even to offer the pretense of deliberative justice, the Nichols jury may have helped prove what defense lawyers have claimed for years: there could be no constitutionally fair trial for Terry Nichols in Oklahoma," said Cohen.

Jurors also found him guilty of first-degree arson and conspiracy to commit arson in the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building, which killed 168 people and injured hundreds more.

Taylor told Nichols' jury that the penalty phase resembles a separate trial, with opening statements by prosecutors and Nichols' defense attorneys, witnesses questioned by both sides and closing arguments.

Nichols, 49, was acquitted of federal murder charges in 1997 but convicted of conspiracy and involuntary manslaughter charges in the deaths of eight federal law enforcement officers in the bombing. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Oklahoma prosecutors charged Nichols in 1999 with the deaths of the 160 other victims and one victim's fetus.

Taylor barred prosecutors from seeking the death penalty on the count involving the fetus after ruling prosecutors did not give his defense attorneys adequate notice of their plan to seek the death penalty on that count.

Nichols' jury sentenced him to life in prison without parole on that count.

The penalty phase of Nichols' trial is expected to last about three weeks. Prosecutors will question dozens of bombing survivors and members of victims' families about the impact the blast had on their lives.

Nichols' relatives, including mother, Joyce Wilt, and sister, Suzanne McDonnell, are expected to plead for his life. Nichols, who did not testify in his own defense, could still testify during the penalty phase.

Nichols was found guilty after prosecutors presented evidence that he bought the explosive ammonium nitrate fertilizer used in the homemade bomb that destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building and stole detonation cord, blasting caps and other explosives.

The defense contended others helped executed bomber Timothy McVeigh carry out the bombing and Nichols was the fall guy for a wider conspiracy.