Tomorrow is the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. The FBI's release of these photos today reminds me of the FBI's actions with respect to Timothy McVeigh. From the brief I wrote in his case challenging the eyewitness identifications made after the media exposure of his perp walk and the composite sketch released to the public after the bombing:
On April 19, 1995, an explosion occurred at the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in which 168 people died, including young children. The media almost instantly pronounced the explosion to be the single largest act of terrorism on United States soil in history. The United States government responded by immediately launching the largest manhunt ever conducted in this country, led by agents of its most famous law enforcement agency: the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A two million dollar reward fund was immediately established by the United States for information resulting in the identification, arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible. “Contact the OKBOMB Task Force via E-mail at okbomb@fbi.gov” reads the offer which is still posted on the FBI’s Internet home page.
The President of the United States and the Attorney General both appeared on television on the day of the bombing and assured the country that no effort would be spared to catch the perpetrators of this horrific crime, and that when they did, justice would be swift and the death penalty would be sought.
[Footnote: The exact words spoken by President Clinton at his White House press conference on April 19, 1995, were, “We will find the people who did this. When we do, justice will be swift, certain and severe. These people are killers and they must be treated like killers”.
Attorney General Janet Reno advised the nation in her press conference of April 19, 1995, “If death occurs, the death penalty is available and we will seek it”.]
The entire nation was riveted by both the events of the bombing and the search for those responsible. Two days later, on April 21, 1995, the country was informed by every medium in existence, including television, radio, newspaper, computer on-line news service, etc., that an individual named Timothy McVeigh had been charged with the Oklahoma City bombing.
The nation learned that Mr. McVeigh had been arrested about 90 miles from Oklahoma City, an hour and a half after the bombing, because he had not displayed a proper license tag on the vehicle he was driving. He was in custody in the Noble County jail in Oklahoma.
What the nation and indeed the world next witnessed, and continuously observed approximately every 20 minutes for days on end, on television sets in homes, businesses, offices, airports, hospital waiting rooms, and virtually every other imaginable place, was what has now come to be known as “the perp walk”: Timothy McVeigh, in an orange jump suit, wearing no apparent protection such as a bullet-proof vest, with his military-style haircut and a far-off look in his eye, shackled at the hands and feet, being led by federal agents out of the Noble County Jail, through a throng of angry watchers-on, many of whom were repeatedly shouting “Baby Killer, Baby Killer” at him.
Within hours, this event and the demonizing portrayal of Timothy McVeigh dominated every similar form of media, from print to the radio’s air waves, where vivid descriptions of this image supplanted the visuals of the other mediums.
In time, this visual demonization of Timothy McVeigh abated in frequency from what seemed like every few minutes, to hourly, then to three times a day, then daily, weekly, and monthly. Even now, almost two years after the event, the image is still more often than not flashed on the television screen when anything about the Oklahoma City bombing is aired.
All of the challenged identifications of defendant McVeigh occurred after the government’s identification witnesses had ample opportunity for repeated exposure to the demonic depiction of the singular image of Timothy McVeigh .... It is against this backdrop that all of the challenged identifications must be measured.
Trials are public events. Criminal investigations leading to charges are better kept to the confines of law enforcement. We don't live in a fairy-tale world like Alice in Wonderland where the Queen gets to say "First the punishment, then the verdict." In this country, there is a presumption of innocence for everyone suspected or charged with a crime, which remains with them until, if ever, a jury declares them guilty. The release of these photos has already, in my opinion, destroyed the presumption of innocence for the persons depicted in the photos.
