Apology' American justice and the FBI; An apology to the FBI.(United States)(FBI fails to submit some 3,000 pages of evidence in the Timothy McVeigh case)(Brief Article)

Economist (US), The, May, 2001

In our last issue ("A covenant with death") we may have given the impression that the conduct of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the prosecution of Timothy McVeigh had been exemplary; that the trial of the Oklahoma City bomber had followed the legal textbook to the letter ("none of the usual tales about drunk lawyers and uncalled witnesses"); and that, "barring a miracle", he would be executed on May 16th.

However, the FBI having suddenly discovered 3,000-odd pages of evidence that Mr McVeigh's lawyers should have received before his trial, and his execution having thus been postponed to June 11th (at least), we now accept unreservedly that we should have always known the Bureau was bound to cock it up in the end.