[irishgrl]

by the way, Brian J ought to find this interesting:
(ED BRONSON is my former Professor)

Professor advises McVeigh judge

Steve Hayden

-Wednesday, February 7, 1996

A Chico State University professor advised a federal judge in the Oklahoma City bombing case last week concerning the request for a change of venue for the trial.

Professor Ed Bronson was asked by the lawyers for Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols to testify in Oklahoma last week.

Bronson is considered an expert in change-of-venue issues. He has testified in several major trials on the subject.

"This case, I've never had anything like it," Bronson said. He had two weeks to sift through research on the case. He then flew to Oklahoma City last Monday for the hearing.

He said it was doubtful if the two men accused of the bombing could get a fair trial in the city where it occurred, because the citizens of Oklahoma City were so deeply affected by the blast. The bombing of the federal building killed 169 people in April. McVeigh and Nichols have been charged with the bombing.

When he was in Oklahoma City, Bronson was able to get a sense for how deep the bombing hit the area.

The cafeteria in the Oklahoma City courthouse is selling T-shirts and souvenirs with pictures of loved-ones and family members who died in the explosion, Bronson said. Possible jurors are eating at the cafeteria and walking right by the merchandise, he said, and all the commotion could taint prospective jurors' opinions in the case.

As a result, Bronson said he thinks the trial should be moved to another town, where people are less involved with the case.

Across from the courthouse where Bronson testified is the empty field where the federal building stood until May 15. It is now surrounded by a chain link fence.

"It grabs your heart, the teddy bears and ribbons tied to the fence," he said.

Bronson's students seem to think that having a professor actively involved in real-life trials makes his classes more interesting.

"It's interesting because it's something that's happening now," said Rebecca Waschau, a senior in one of Bronson's classes. "Now he's teaching us about change of venue, it makes it more interesting doing something people have heard of."

Another student, when asked about Bronson's teaching style, just laughed and said he tells funny stories.

Bronson began teaching at Chico State in 1969. He has advised judges in the Chicago Seven trial and the Polly Klass kidnapping and murder trials about changing the locations of the trials. He has been a consultant in more than 100 change-of-venue cases. (including, more recently, the Laci Peterson case!!!) A change of venue occurs when the trial of a controversial case is moved from the city in which the alleged incident occurred.

Although Bronson received a law degree from Denver University in 1959, he never became a lawyer, preferring instead to teach.

"I never took the bar exam because I'm too much the product of a middle-class background," he said. "I didn't want to be tempted, so I didn't take the bar."

Jury consulting takes up a lot of his time, so Bronson is teaching only half-time this semester, he said. However, Bronson said he loves consulting too much to give it up.

"That's what makes this arrangement great," he said.

Bronson has also performed extensive research on the effects of social desirability, which is when a prospective juror goes along with a lawyer's question because of desire to fit in.

"What social scientists do is give fancy names to what everybody already knows," he said.

Bronson did the original research on the constitutionality of the death penalty in 1968. (by the way, he is against it, having spoken personally with that Nun from DEAD MAN WALKING)



Copyright (c) Wednesday, February 7, 1996 by The Orion