DEL.ICIO.USUpdated: 7:45 p.m. December 02, 2008
Witness says Nichols was model employee at H-P
The Atlanta -Constitution
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
A defense witness who asked the jury to show mercy on convicted murderer Brian Nichols turned her head and shut her eyes in apparent revulsion when a prosecuting attorney showed her a graphic photograph of a bullet hole in the head of one of Nichols’ victims.
“Do you know if mercy was shown for her?” asked prosecutor Michele McCutcheon as she held the autopsy photograph of court reporter Julie Ann Brandau a few feet from the face of witness Amanda Grihm.
JOHN SPINK/jspink@ajc.com
Defense witness Amanda Grihn turns away as prosecution attorney Michele McCutcheon shows her an autopsy photograph of the bullet hole in the head of court reporter Julie Brandau.
PHOTOS• A look at the case 2005-present
• Penalty phase | Verdict
• Weeks in court:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
• Interactive graphic: The 2005 shootings
• Video: Nichols' confession
MORE STORIES
RELATED LINKS
“No,” said Grihm, struggling to keep her composure.
The moment was the most gripping of the day Tuesday as Nichols’ defense team called witness after witness to testify in the third week of the sentencing phase of the trial. The defense is trying to persuade jurors — who convicted Nichols of four murders and other charges on Nov. 7 — to spare his life.
The prosecution is pushing for the death penalty for the March 11, 2005, murders of Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes, and Brandau in Barnes’ courtroom where, later that morning, Nichols was to stand trial for rape. Nichols also shot and killed Fulton County sheriff’s Deputy Hoyt Teasley on the street outside the courthouse, and later that night in Buckhead shot and killed U.S. Customs agent David Wilhelm.
Grihm testified that Nichols was a model employee. She said she was never afraid when just the two of them worked nights at Hewlett-Packard. “He had a very high work ethic, very dedicated, good at what he did, good with customers, very even-tempered,” she said.
Under questioning by defense attorney Penelope Marshall, she recalled that she was so impressed by him she recommended to a co-worker with a “terrible” boyfriend that she should think about dating Nichols.
“I said ‘You really should look at Brian’,” she testified.
She said she learned from her own life experiences — including the death of a sister in an on-the-job accident that could have been prevented — that people should forgive and move on.
“I just feel that mercy should be extended to him [Nichols] because that wasn’t the Brian I knew,” she said.
McCutcheon, doggedly closing in, won the concession from Grihm that, yes, she knew Nichols on the job, but, no, she didn’t know anything about his life outside of work. She peppered Grihm with questions about whether Nichols, the murderer, had shown mercy on any of his victims.
Again and again Grihm answered no, Nichols had shown no mercy that she knew of when he gunned down four people. When she turned her head and closed her eyes at the sight of the gruesome photograph she conceded that no, this was not the work of the man she knew at the Hewlett-Packard office.
“All of the things that you show me, I know nothing about Brian outside of work,” she told McCutcheon.
Services »
