FC: FBI database problem postpones McVeigh's death, allows appeal

[Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>]

http://www.cluebot.com/article.pl?sid=01/05/13/1856213

   FBI Database Problem Delays McVeigh's Death
   posted by cicero on Sunday May 13, @01:48PM
   from the blame-it-on-the-computer dept.

   The U.S. government has postponed Timothy McVeigh's scheduled death
   until June 11 because the FBI failed to turn over 3,000 pages of
   documents to McVeigh's defense lawyers.
   
   Details remain sketchy, but it appears as though the problem arose
   because of a disconnect between the existence of the documents in
   physical form and their corresponding entries in a database. In other
   words, the FBI never typed in summaries of those documents, so they
   didn't appear when operators did database searches.
   
   According to the FBI: "Over the course of the last several months, the
   FBI exercised due diligence to ensure that all records created as a
   result of the investigation were logged into and compared with each of
   26 data bases which serve as a repository for information. During this
   process it was determined that some of the materials from various FBI
   field offices were not a part of the investigative database."
   (http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel01/defenbaugh.htm)
   
   On Thursday, the Justice Department sent a letter to McVeigh's
   attorneys saying that materials include "FBI reports of investigation
   ("302s" and "inserts") and physical evidence, such as photographs,
   written correspondence and tapes."
   (http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2001/May/214ag.htm)
   
   This marks at least the fifth time in recent years that the FBI has
   failed to disclose evidence in a major case, the Los Angeles Times
   reports. "The problem is that the FBI has a terrible record for
   turning over this kind of material," Herman Schwartz, an American
   University law professor who has studied the FBI, told the Times.
   (http://www.latimes.com/print/asection/20010512/t000039883.html) The
   Washington Post today notes that 46 of the FBI's 56 field offices did
   not turn over documents, and blames the problem on the agency's
   insular culture.
   (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20334-2001May12.html)
   
   The Globe and Mail notes that "congressional hearings have also
   recently been told that the FBI concealed evidence that would have
   exonerated Joseph Salvati, who spent 30 years in prison for murder
   before being freed."
   (http://www.globeandmail.com/gam/International/20010512/UFBIINSB.html)
   
   Reaction on Capitol Hill veered between blaming the FBI employees and
   blaming technology. House Judiciary chairman James Sensenbrenner
   pointed out in a press release that he had anticipated such problems.
   He said: "Because of concern about the FBIs antiquated computer
   systems, three senior members of the House Judiciary Committee joined
   me on April 25, 2001, in writing Director Freeh about the Bureaus
   information technology problems. In that letter, we wrote The
   Committee is concerned that the FBI has information technology systems
   that are slow, unreliable, and obsolete - systems that are unable to
   address the Bureaus critical needs."
   
   Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Crime subcommittee, said: "The
   latest development in the McVeigh case only heightens the need for
   accurate and efficient record keeping. The FBI dealt with a situation
   of immense magnitude following the Oklahoma City bombing. A great
   amount of data was generated. As a result, a more sophisticated and
   updated computer system was necessary to process the information."
   
   But based on the scarce details made public so far, that wasn't the
   problem. The problem does not appear to be the sophistication of the
   FBI's computer system, but human error in that FBI agents did not
   enter documents into the database.
   
   This database snafu could have a tremendous impact on the future of
   the case. Until now, McVeigh has reportedly accepted his execution,
   even to the point of not pursuing appeals. Now, his defense attorneys
   say, he may consider "dropping his wish to die."
   (http://www.latimes.com/print/asection/20010512/t000039880.html)
   They've filed a new appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court based on this new
   evidence, which the Kansas City Star says includes "witness reports
   about other possible accomplices."
   (http://www.kcstar.com/item/pages/home.pat,local/3accaa49.512,.html).
   
   If the Kansas City Star is correct, the new evidence is likely to give
   a boost to reports that McVeigh had collaborators, including some from
   within the white supremacist movement -- a theory that has not been
   widely reported inside the U.S., perhaps because it differs with the
   federal government's version of events that prosecutors told the jury.
   The U.K. Independent recently ran a compelling three-part series that
   says "new evidence reveals he was part of an undergound network of
   white supremacists."
   (http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=71520)

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