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

From: Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
Date: Sun May 13 2001 - 12:01:10 PDT

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    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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