A lawyer for bombing suspect Timothy McVeigh accused prosecutors Monday of trying to prejudice the trial by meeting with victims' relatives and labeling defense theories as "wacky."
The meeting was a "deliberate example of the government engaged in unauthorized disclosure," attorney Stephen Jones said on NBC's "Today" show.But Joseph Hartzler, the lead prosecutor in the case, said Monday the prosecution has "an obligation to keep the people who lost loved ones informed about what is happening in the case."
Prosecutors spent more than two hours Sunday answering questions from about 200 relatives and survivors during a meeting at the U.S. attorney's office, just a few blocks from the site of the bombed federal building. Another gathering was set for this evening for those who didn't make Sunday's briefing.
"I want to emphasize that the meeting that we had yesterday and we are having this evening is a private meeting," Hartzler said. "We're not seeking to generate publicity and we are merely fulfilling what we view as an important duty to meet with and inform the victims of this tragedy."
He noted that prosecutors always meet with victims and families, but in this case there are too many of them to make one-on-one meetings practical. The meetings were in the works before Friday's ruling by U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch in Denver ordering separate trials in the case, officials said.
McVeigh, 28, and Terry Nichols, 41, are charged with federal murder, conspiracy and weapons counts in the April 19, 1995, bombing that killed 168 people and injured more than 500. If convicted, they could face the death penalty.