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FindLaw Legal News: Special Coverage: Waco
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Waco Inquiry Failed to Test Correct F.B.I. Gun, Official Says
(Associated Press 6/01/01) A simulation that helped lead an
independent inquiry to conclude that F.B.I. agents did not fire their guns in
their siege of the Branch Davidian compound eight years ago never tested the
type of assault rifle that the agents had there, an official who helped run the test
says.
FBI Termed Uncooperative in Waco Probe
(Washington Post 6/01/01) The FBI was so uncooperative in the
Waco investigation that special counsel John C. Danforth threatened
FBI Director Louis J. Freeh with a search warrant to gain access to
relevant documents, Danforth said yesterday in an interview with The
Washington Post.
Ex-Davidian prosecutor could be jailed
(Dallas Morning News 6/01/01) Former federal prosecutor Bill Johnston could face jail time when he is
sentenced next week by a St. Louis federal judge because the Waco
special counsel has withdrawn a pledge to recommend probation.
Ex-prosecutor guilty in Davidian case
(Dallas Morning News 2/07/01) Former federal prosecutor Bill Johnston pleaded guilty to a felony
Tuesday in St. Louis, admitting to withholding information about the
use of pyrotechnic tear-gas canisters in the Branch Davidian siege
from the Waco special counsel.
Ex-prosecutor takes deal in Davidian case
(Associated Press 2/06/01) Former U.S. Attorney Bill Johnston will plead guilty Tuesday
as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors who accused
him of obstructing the investigation into the 1993 siege of the Branch
Davidian compound near Waco, a newspaper reported.
Ex-Waco
prosecutor wants charges dismissed (Associated Press 1/11/01) Felony charges
against former assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Johnston should be dismissed because
he is being held to a higher standard of conduct than other government officials
involved in the Branch Davidian siege, his lawyer says.
Ex-prosecutor
declares he's innocent in Waco case (Post-Dispatch 11/14/00) A former
federal prosecutor said Monday he will "let the process run its course" now that
he has declared his innocence to charges he obstructed the investigation into
the siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.
Waco
case prosecutor enters plea (The Dallas Morning News 11/14/00) A former
government prosecutor pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of obstructing the
investigation into the 1993 siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco.
Former
U.S. attorney is accused of obstructing Waco investigation (Post-Dispatch
11/09/00) A former federal prosecutor who played a major role in the government's
siege of the Branch Davidians was indicted by a federal grand jury in St. Louis
on Wednesday on charges that he obstructed the investigation of special Waco counsel
John Danforth.
Former
Waco prosecutor indicted (The Dallas Morning News 11/09/00) Former Waco
federal prosecutor Bill Johnston, who helped expose a six-year cover-up of government
actions in the Branch Davidian siege, was indicted Wednesday on federal charges
of obstructing the special counsel's investigation that he helped set in motion.
Danforth
indicts lawyer in Waco probe, wants S.A. attorneys fired (San Antonio
Express-News 11/09/00) Ending a detailed review of the disastrous 1993 Waco siege,
a special counsel Wednesday urged the Justice Department to fire two San Antonio
federal prosecutors and indicted their former colleague.
Former
federal prosecutor Bill Johnston indicted by special grand jury (Waco
Tribune-Herald 11/08/00) Bill Johnston, the former federal prosecutor from Waco
who claims he is being retaliated against for blowing the whistle on a Justice
Department cover-up, was indicted Wednesday on charges that he lied to a federal
grand jury and obstructed Special Counsel John Danforth's Branch Davidian investigation.
Probe
called awkward for attorney pair (San Antonio Express 10/28/00) They
convicted a governor, interrogated the president and sent a judge's assassin to
prison for life. But now, after nearly 30 years of pursuing South Texas corruption
and conspiracies, it is their turn to be investigated.
Grand
jury witnesses allege testimony isn't needed (Post-Dispatch 10/27/00)
Supporters of former Waco siege prosecutor Bill Johnston say their appearances
Thursday before a federal grand jury in St. Louis were unnecessary and an effort
to intimidate them.
More subpoenas
issued for grand jurors examining Davidian case (The Dallas Morning News 10/25/2000)
Five more Central Texas residents have been subpoenaed by Special Counsel John
Danforth to appear next week in St. Louis before federal grand jurors re-examining
aspects of the Branch Davidian investigation.
Prosecutor's
supporters seek immunity from subpoenas in Davidian case (The Dallas Morning
News 10/25/2000) Five supporters of former Waco federal prosecutor Bill Johnston
filed a motion Wednesday seeking to block the special counsel's office from forcing
them to testify before a federal grand jury investigating government actions in
the 1993 Branch Davidian siege.
Report: Clinton,
Reno deceived public about Waco tragedy (The Dallas Morning News 10/19/2000)
A Congressional report released Thursday alleges that President Clinton and Attorney
General Janet Reno misled the public for years with claims that U.S. military
experts endorsed the "flawed" FBI tear gas attack that ended the Branch Davidian
siege.
Judge
blames sect for Waco tragedy (The Dallas Morning News 9/21/2000) The Branch
Davidians' long-running wrongful-death lawsuit ended Wednesday with a federal
judge's ruling that they and not the government were responsible for the 1993
tragedy.
Davidians
have prison terms cut (The Dallas Morning News 9/20/2000) A federal judge
has more than halved the federal prison sentences of five Branch Davidians and
also cut five years from the sentence of a sixth, ensuring that all could be free
within less than six years, a defense lawyer said Tuesday.
Davidians'
attorney vents anger at judge (The Dallas Morning News 9/13/2000) Continuing
a legal grudge match, the lead lawyer in the Branch Davidian wrongful death lawsuit
filed a caustic motion Tuesday asking U.S. District Judge Walter S. Smith Jr.
to remove himself and declare a mistrial in the case.
Prosecution
of whistleblower could backfire (The Dallas Morning News 9/13/2000) Waco special
counsel John C. Danforth won't confirm that a key whistleblower in the cover-up
of the Branch Davidian siege is being targeted for prosecution.
Danforth seeks
to repair rift with judge over Waco case (The Dallas Morning News 9/09/2000)
Special counsel John C. Danforth met privately Friday with U.S. District Judge
Walter S. Smith Jr., trying to repair a rift created when the special counsel's
investigators recently threatened to indict a former federal prosecutor who turned
whistle-blower in the Branch Davidian case.
2
More Waco Prosecutors Said to Be at Risk of Charges (New York Times 9/02/2000)
Two federal prosecutors who helped send several Branch Davidians to prison may
face prosecution themselves on charges that they withheld information about government
actions in the siege at the group's compound near Waco, a lawyer involved in the
case said today.
Waco
Whistleblower Faces Indictment (Washington Post 9/01/2000) The whistleblower
who sparked a probe into whether the federal government was responsible for the
deaths of 74 Branch Davidians near Waco, Tex., has been notified he faces criminal
charges after acknowledging he withheld notes from special counsel John C. Danforth's
investigators and misled a federal grand jury about the papers.
Danforth
reportedly targets Waco siege whistleblower (Dallas Morning News 9/01/00)
The former prosecutor who warned last year of a possible cover-up of federal actions
in the Branch Davidian siege has been told he is being targeted for prosecution
by Waco special counsel John C. Danforth.
Waco
secrecy fed public mistrust, Danforth says (Post-Dispatch 7/23/00) Special
counsel John C. Danforth was amazed that most Americans were willing to believe,
without evidence, that the government intentionally burned up a group of its citizens
at Waco, Texas, in 1993.
Interim
report clears government of wrongdoing at Waco (Post-Dispatch 7/21/00)
Citing "overwhelming evidence," special counsel John C. Danforth Friday said that
the preliminary results of his investigation into the confrontation with the Branch
Davidians at Waco, Texas, in 1993 cleared the government of any of the "dark questions"
he was asked to look into.
Waco: What's
next (Dallas Morning News 7/15/00) Judge Walter Smith will consider
the jury's advice and issue a final ruling possibly as soon as August. He must
decide whether federal agents were responsible for the gunfight that left four
agents and six Branch Davidians dead in 1993 and whether the government was responsible
for the fire 51 days later during which more than 80 Davidians died.
Jurors retain anonymity
(Dallas Morning News 7/15/00) When a federal judge read the verdict Friday in
the Branch Davidians' $675 million damage suit, the five-member jury had already
left the courthouse.
Judge Smith's
comments (Dallas Morning News 7/15/00) Lead plaintiffs' attorney Michael
Caddell took the highly unusual step of strongly criticizing Judge Walter Smith
on the courthouse steps after Thursday's proceedings in the wrongful-death lawsuit
of Branch Davidians and survivors against the government. He said the judge was
"trying to engineer a verdict" and criticized his instructions to the jury, as
well as his decision to combine all the plaintiffs - including men, women and
children holed up in the compound during the 51-day siege - into one group. Mr.
Caddell said he thought the law should allow separate consideration of the death
or injury and actions or negligence of each individual.
Jury's findings
reverberate across capital, country (Dallas Morning News 7/15/00) A
Texas jury's quick finding that the government bears no liability for the deadly
1993 Branch Davidian siege drew sighs of relief in federal law enforcement circles
Friday and dismay in some other quarters.
Davidians
didn't expect to beat government (Dallas Morning News 7/15/00) Branch
Davidians accepted with a sense of resignation the news that a federal jury doesn't
believe the government was responsible for the tragic events in Waco.
What the jury decided
(Dallas Morning News 7/15/00) The jury came back after 2 1/2 hours of deliberations
on Friday with an advisory verdict clearing the government of any wrongdoing during
the 1993 Branch Davidian siege in Waco. Here are the questions the judge asked
the jury to consider, and their unanimous answers:
The case before
the jury (Dallas Morning News 7/14/00) U.S. District Judge Walter Smith
will ask jurors to answer unanimously a four-step series of questions to reach
a verdict in the Branch Davidian wrongful-death lawsuit:
Sect lawyer
says judge ignoring law (Dallas Morning News 7/14/00) A plaintiff's
attorney complained Thursday that a federal judge appeared to be "ignoring the
law" and trying to "engineer a verdict" favorable to the government as both sides
finished presenting evidence in the Branch Davidian wrongful-death lawsuit.
Davidian children shot,
stabbed, autopsies show (Dallas Morning News 7/13/00) Several children
in the Branch Davidian compound on the final day of the 1993 siege were shot and
at least one was stabbed, according to autopsy reports presented Thursday in a
wrongful-death trial.
Fire
at Waco complex probably was set inside deliberately, expert testifies
(Post-Dispatch 7/12/00) An expert testified Wednesday that the high heat and speed
of the fire at the Branch Davidian complex suggested that the fire had been set
intentionally by people inside the buildings. The expert was James G. Quintiere,
a professor of fire protection engineering at the University of Maryland. He said
three or four fires started within two minutes, just after noon April 19, 1993.
Agent backs
FBI use of tank in siege (Dallas Morning News 7/12/00) The tank that
ripped down the rear of the Branch Davidian compound wasn't trying to demolish
the building but was trying to clear a path to get tear gas into the sect's hiding
place, an FBI agent testified Tuesday.
Davidians
in excerpts discuss setting fire around sect compound (Dallas Morning
News 7/11/00) Branch Davidians, overheard on FBI eavesdropping devices, made jokes
about federal agents dying at the start of a 1993 standoff and also laughingly
discussed their belief that God would take them "like flames of fire."
Davidians
gave orders to 'spread the fuel,' tapes show (Post-Dispatch 7/10/00)
Branch Davidians joked about the possibility of becoming a "charcoal briquette"
the day before the fatal fire the ended in the death of about 80 people. Then,
the day of the fire, Davidians gave orders to "spread the fuel," "pour it," "pass
the torch" and "light it."
Government
seeks end to gunfire claim (Dallas Morning News 7/09/00) Government
lawyers again have asked a federal judge to throw out a claim of government gunfire
at the end of the Branch Davidian siege, renewing their argument that the charge
springs from faulty science and can be disproved with basic mathematical analysis.
Rangers testify
of gas, torch (Dallas Morning News 7/08/00) Texas Rangers said that
they found a blackened torch and four fuel cans in the Branch Davidian compound's
dining room and were told by a surviving sect member that the fire that consumed
the building was fueled by Coleman gas.
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