Jerry Strauss, Oslund's attorney, said he believes that Ashcroft will push for the death sentence to be applied if his client is found guilty. "It makes for a difficult day when you're an attorney and your client looks at you and asks, 'What's the worst I'm looking at?' " said Strauss. "And you have to answer, 'You're looking at six feet under.' "
Many, including Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner, believe this case will be all about Ashcroft's desire to apply the death penalty in states such as Minnesota where it's not on the books. Typically, she said, murder cases are tried at the state level, meaning that this case would be tried in Hennepin County District Court.
The feds are justifying taking this case because Brinks is involved in interstate commerce. But usually federal authorities don't stretch so far for a murder case. Most often federal murder cases involve drugs, gangs or organized crime where stiff federal laws can be used to induce witnesses to cooperate. "If the goal is not the death penalty," Gaertner said, "I'm not sure I understand the federal interest in the case."
The Justice Department notified the Hennepin District Attorney's office last week of its interest in removing the case to federal court.
Others familiar with the way the relationship between the Justice Department in Washington and local federal prosecutors traditionally has worked and the way it operates now, agree with Gaertner: Things have dramatically changed since Ashcroft. Unlike those before him, he has overruled federal prosecutors who recommended against pushing for the death penalty.
,,,,Those familiar with the Justice Department also say that before Ashcroft's tenure, the U.S. attorney general generally avoided seeking the death penalty in states that didn't have capital punishment. And they believe that Ashcroft is particularly interested in trying capital cases in those states.
This isn't about whether Osland deserves to die for his crimes or whether Minnesotans believe in the death penalty. It's about Ashcroft's attempt to trump state policy--a policy that has been in effect in Minnesota for almost 100 years. As County Attorney Gaertner put it,
Regardless of the polls, regardless of how you feel about the death penalty, this is an affront to our state's polcies and culture."
