Legislature urged to revamp death penalty law

District Attorney Paul Howard called for the state Legislature Saturday to change Georgia’s death-penalty law requiring a unanimous jury decision for a defendant to be sent to Death Row.

By a 9-3 hung jury decision on Friday, Howard lost a lengthy and costly effort to have Brian Nichols sentenced to death for the March 11, 2005 Fulton County Courthouse killings.

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

• 4 years after attacks, courthouse lacks security plan 
• Gwinnett won't prosecute Nichols for kidnapping 
• Feds won't seek death penalty for Nichols 
• In prison, cellphone is coveted contraband 
• Police reveal little about Nichols manhunt errors 
• Nichols trial holdouts: 'Show me something' 

• Nichols says he was at war with U.S. government in taped confession
• AJC's full trial coverage

RELATED LINKS

• Atlanta news
• Georgia and metro news

Howard said a minority of jurors were determined that Nichols get a life sentence, whether or not he deserved to be sentenced to death.

“We’re not asking for favors — we are just asking for a level playing field,” Howard said. “I have talked to two jurors and the both say that some people showed up for jury duty with their minds already made up and never entered into a meaningful discussion of a death sentence. That means we don’t get a fair trial.”

Howard wants the law changed so that unanimous verdicts are not required in the penalty phase of death-penalty cases after jurors have already unanimously found the murderer guilty of crime that involved special circumstances, such as killing a law officer, killing during a crime such as a robbery, or killing while in custody.

The Nichols jury found Nichols’ murders involved 11 such circumstances.

It is not known whether any of the three Nichols juror holdouts were among the three jurors who indicated during questioning before they were selected for the panel that they had reservations about imposing a death penalty.

Howard spoke at a press conference, which also included jurors and the family members of victims. One of the jurors described the deliberations among the 12 jurors were “respectful but firm.”

“None of us were going to back down,” said the woman, who described herself as Juror #8.

“I didn’t see any remorse … I want the families to know we did everything we could.”

Family members of the four murder victims expressed outrage that Nichols had escaped the death penalty.

“I feel in some ways he is proud of what he did… he sat there with a smirk on his face,” said Deborah Teasley, widow of Sheriff’s deputy Sgt. Hoyt Teasley, who was gunned down as Nichols fled the courthouse.

Other relatives said any Nichols victory was hollow.

“I don’t think Brian Nichols won,” said Christina Greenway, daughter of court reporter Julie Ann Brandau, who was shot in the head during Nichols’ courtroom rampage.

“He has said himself that it is not in his DNA to stay in prison.”

Howard said he is talking to U.S. Attorney David Nahmias about seeking a federal trial and death penalty for Nichols on the grounds he murdered a federal agent.

Nahmias told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution he could only seek a federal death penalty if it was determined that the agent, David Wilhelm, was killed while in the line of duty.

At trial, the testimony conflicted on whether Nichols knew Wilhelm was a federal agent when he shot and killed him.

Prosecutors contended Nichols ambushed Wilhelm at a house he was building in Buckhead when he was seeking shelter while on the run. But Nichols, when interrogated by police, said Wilhelm at one point did identify himself as a federal agent while trying to arrest Nichols.

Wilhelm’s widow, Candee, took aim at Nichols’ parents, Claritha and Gene Nichols.

“Brian Nichols’ parents raised an extremely evil person,” said Wilhelm.

“He showed no mercy… I am extremely disappointed that the defendant has been shown the mercy that he did not show on March 11, 2005.”

Wilhelm was briefly detained during the trial for bringing a .380-caliber pistol into the courtroom, concealed in her purse. She told investigators she had forgotten the pistol was in her purse. She was not arrested.

Lead prosecutor Kellie Hill reminded the crowd on Saturday that mercy did not equal injustice.

“Justice has been served in this case — it absolutely has been,” Hill said. “Sometimes we don’t understand the outcome but we all have to accept it.”