IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO Criminal Action No. 96-CR-68 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, vs. TERRY LYNN NICHOLS, Defendant. ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ REPORTER'S TRANSCRIPT (Trial to Jury: Volume 156) ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ Proceedings before the HONORABLE RICHARD P. MATSCH, Judge, United States District Court for the District of Colorado, commencing at 5:00 p.m., on the 5th day of January, 1998, in Courtroom C-204, United States Courthouse, Denver, Colorado. Proceeding Recorded by Mechanical Stenography, Transcription Produced via Computer by Paul Zuckerman, 1929 Stout Street, P.O. Box 3563, Denver, Colorado, 80294, (303) 629-9285 APPEARANCES PATRICK RYAN, United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma, and RANDAL SENGEL, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma, 210 West Park Avenue, Suite 400, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 73102, appearing for the plaintiff. LARRY MACKEY, SEAN CONNELLY, BETH WILKINSON, GEOFFREY MEARNS, JAMIE ORENSTEIN, and AITAN GOELMAN, Special Attorneys to the U.S. Attorney General, 1961 Stout Street, Suite 1200, Denver, Colorado, 80294, appearing for the plaintiff. MICHAEL TIGAR, RONALD WOODS, ADAM THURSCHWELL, REID NEUREITER, and JANE TIGAR, Attorneys at Law, 1120 Lincoln Street, Suite 1308, Denver, Colorado, 80203, appearing for Defendant Nichols. * * * * * PROCEEDINGS (In open court at 5 p.m.) THE COURT: Be seated, please. (Jury in at 5 p.m.) THE COURT: Members of the jury, we're at 5:00, so this is the time to recess your deliberations, just as we did earlier when you were deliberating; but not long ago, you sent out a communication. And I've reviewed that with counsel. And I just -- I'm not going to read it, respond to it now; but I want to simply mention a couple of things in response. I'm really -- well, first of all, I remind you that all of your communications dealing with your deliberations should be addressed to the Court. Only I can respond to your communications, and your communications, of course, must be in writing to the Court. But you put a rather pointed question, and I feel unable to answer such a direct and pointed question. And let me explain: I gave you a copy of the original instructions with respect to the elements of the offense and, of course, all of the rest of them for your reference; and obviously, you have been making reference to it. Now, in addressing the questions that are before you now and the instructions given to you today and the verdict form given to you today, the findings form, you must, of course, consider those earlier instructions and what I told you constituted the elements of the offense for which -- and all of the offenses, for that matter, and your findings. Now, I cannot and no one can ask you in detail with respect to your findings. You were judges of the evidence. You made findings with respect to the evidence. Those findings, then, your evidentiary findings, have to be considered within the context of the law that was given to you. So what I'm going to suggest to you is that when you come back to resume your deliberations in the morning, you go back to those instructions that were given to you, beginning really on page 7 of the original instructions, and review what I told you are the necessary elements of the offense of conspiracy and the charge in the case and then review also among yourselves the bases upon which you considered that count and returned your verdict on that count and then look at the findings -- or excuse me -- the instructions that I gave you today and the definitions there are and the special findings form and read them together. So perhaps that will assist you, if you will follow that suggestion. And again, I feel that I cannot directly answer questions where the answer depends upon your view of the evidence in the case and your previous findings with respect to the evidence in the case, because I do not wish in any way, of course, to suggest to you what your decisions now should be. And I in all of my instructions to you and comments to you, of course -- they should be understood by you -- and I did not repeat in these instructions this morning that which I told you in the original: that the Court has no opinion with respect to what your findings should be. That's why I'm very careful in all of my comments to you and instructions to you and the manner in which I'm addressing your latest communication to me. Now, of course, anytime I refer you to instructions, I again want to be understood by you as including among them the instruction that all of the instructions that were given to you must be considered together, as they are connected with and related to each other as a whole. And anytime that I suggest to you a particular part of the instructions on the law, I want you to understand the importance of that instruction; that they are connected and related, and also that includes the instructions on the burden of proof and who has the burden of proof with respect to the matters that are now before you for your special findings. Well, I hope this will be of some assistance to you and this suggestion as you proceed in the morning. Would you like to start at 8:30 in the morning? Is that all right? It looks like that's the general view. So we'll recess your deliberations now and again, of course, remembering that what you are discussing here is a matter to be saved for only the 12 of you who are deliberating in this case, so there should be no discussion with anyone else about these deliberations. And of course, you're not to again reveal to anyone how the jury stands numerically or otherwise on these questions before you until you have reached your verdict, just as I told you when you were deliberating on the counts in the case. And I again emphasize that and also emphasize the need for you to decide the questions before you based solely on the law and the evidence presented to you in the course of this proceeding and the trial. And therefore, continue to be very careful to avoid anything outside what has been given to you in this courtroom in reaching your decision in the case on the questions before you. You're excused, then, until you resume your deliberations at 8:30 in the morning. And again, when you come in, do not begin your deliberations until the foreperson convenes you for deliberations. Put the matter aside; let it rest overnight; come back to it fresh in the morning. You're excused now. (Jury out at 5:08 p.m.) THE COURT: All right. We'll again be in recess subject to call. (Recess at 5:08 p.m.) * * * * * REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE I certify that the foregoing is a correct transcript from the record of proceedings in the above-entitled matter. Dated at Denver, Colorado, this 5th day of January, 1998. _______________________________ Paul Zuckerman