Oklahoma City: Is another trial worth its grief?

Denny believes revenge should not be the motive for a trial, and calls the process a black mark on the justice system. "When a defendant enters the courtroom, there should be a presumption of innocence," he says. "But Nichols has already been convicted of eight counts of manslaughter and sentenced to life in prison, so he's obliviously guilty of the other 160 deaths. How can a jury be impartial?"

The trial, which could take six months to a year, has been moved to McAlester. A judge ruled last summer that Nichols could not get a fair trial in Oklahoma City, blocks from the bombing site and the 168 bronze chairs commemorating the dead.

As it did for the past two trials, the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health has set up hot lines and websites for those upset by another trial and the grief it conjures. Counselors are waiting - but so far they haven't received any calls. "There just aren't as many concerns surrounding this particular trial," says Jeff Dismukes of the Department of Mental Health.

The United Way of Central Oklahoma is getting the same limited response. It wrote to 1,800 survivors and relatives, alerting them to a fund that could help them travel to the trial. The $100,000 in aid is left over from money raised to send victims to Denver for the federal trials, when more than 800 people were interested in assistance.

But this time around, only 118 are interested - and all will be able to attend because the response was so limited.

"I think it's a reflection of a changing feeling about the bombing," says Bob Spinks, president of the United Way of Central Oklahoma. "We will never be at all like we were before the bombing, but our focus is beginning to shift. The attack is no longer ever-present in our thoughts."

That's why the state trial should be stopped, says Ruth Schwab, who used to work for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. She was on the eighth floor of the building when the blast occurred and she lost an eye from flying debris. She's been subpoenaed to testify in the upcoming trial. "Every time there is another trial, you live it again," she says from her home in Oklahoma City. "I mean, it's hard enough to live with the consequences, without constantly pulling the Band-Aid off and exposing the hurt."

She also thinks the trial is a waste of money, and doesn't feel like a death sentence would make a difference in her life. In fact, she says, she didn't get any satisfaction out of McVeigh's execution.

"It didn't lesson my pain or provide any closure." she says. "As for Nichols, he already no longer has his life. How many times can you put a man to death?"

What has brought relief, says Ms. Schwab, is living - focusing on her husband and five children, immersing herself in her church, going about the business of her life. "I can't sit around and be mad all the time because I was blown up in a building," she says. "That way, they win."

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