Jury Absolves Government in Waco Case

July 15, 2000 -- After only 2 1/2 hours of deliberations, the jury acting as an advisory panel in the wrongful death suit stemming from the 1993 siege at Waco said that the government bears no responsibility for the deaths of the Branch Davidians.

The jury’s decision will now be taken under advisement by U.S. District Judge Walter Smith, the federal judge presiding over the case who will render the final verdict.

In a statement, U.S. Justice Department officials said they were pleased with the jury’s decision and felt exonerated.

“This terrible tragedy was the responsibility of David Koreshand the Branch Davidians, not the federal government,” thestatement said. “We are pleased the juryaffirmed that view.” FBI Director Louis Freeh said the jury’s conclusion lifted “anenormous burden” from law enforcement officers involved with the siege.

“There has been a lot of speculation, misinformation andsecond-guessing over the past seven years,” Freeh said in astatement. “I am grateful that this trial and other actions bythe court allowed the allegations to be aired and the facts to beproved.”

Fiery Tapes Turn CaseIn the $675 million suit, which consolidated nine civil cases filed against the government, surviving Branch Davidians and relatives of the deceased claimed that the government was responsible for deaths that occurred during botched raids on Feb. 28, 1993 and April 19, 1993, the final day of the 51-day standoff at the compound.

The plaintiffs contended that the FBI agents fired at sect members during the final hours of the siege at Waco, preventing them from escaping a fire that started during an FBI tear-gassing operation intended to end the standoff. Branch Davidian sect leader David Koresh and at least 80 of his followers died.

The government denied responsibility in the deaths, saying the Davidians were primarily responsible for the blaze and also argued that agents did not fire at the Davidians in the final hours of the siege. During the nearly monthlong trial, government attorneys presented audiotape that captured Branch Davidians talking about lighting a fire before the blaze erupted on the final day of the siege.

On the tape, unidentified Branch Davidians were heardasking “start the fire?” and “should we light the fire?” Another voice was heard saying, “Let’s keep that fire going,” as tanks rumbled in the background. Federal agents also were heard warning sect members of an impendingtear-gassing operation and urged them to surrender the morning ofApril 19.

‘They Set the Fire’During closing arguments, government attorney Michael Bradford focused on the Branch Davidians’ alleged role in the siege. He urgedjurors to make the right decision and stressed that the plaintiffsfailed to prove the government should bear any responsibility forthe deaths.

“They set this place on fire. They’re responsible for thedeaths in there because they burned this place to the ground, “Bradford said.

“This was one of the most terrible and horrible events in ourhistory and they want to come into court and ask you to award thema judgment,” Bradford continued. “That would be wrong. It would not besupported by anything that would be just and right.”

Excessive Force?The plaintiffs had argued that the bureau of the Alcohol, Tobaccoand Firearms used excessive force and fired indiscriminately duringa botched raid on the compound and contributed to or caused thetragic events on the final day of the siege.

In his closing arguments Friday, Ramsey Clark called the siege “the greatest domestic lawenforcement tragedy in the history of the United States.”

“It didn’t have to happen, and it must never happen again,”said Clark, a former U.S. attorney general who represented severalsurvivors and the families of many who died. Clive Doyle, who was one of nine people who escaped the infernoand one of the plaintiffs in the wrongful death case, maintainedthat the government’s version of what happened in 1993 in untrue. But he didn’t seem surprised by the verdict.

“I would’ve been surprised if the jury ruled in favor of us,”he said. “It’s kind of like the Kennedy assassination. You havethe official version and you have what everybody else believes.”

Gun Issue RemainsU.S. District Judge Smith still must decide one issue that remains contested — whether government agents fired at the Branch Davidians in the final hours of the siege. Before the trial he ruled that the jury would not consider the issue because a court-appointed expert was unable to testify because of illness. Judge Smith will consider the issue separately when the expert is able to testify.

The Branch Davidians argue that flashes on infrared FBI video made during the final hours of the siege prove there was gunfire. But a report by the court’s infrared expert, Vector Data Systems, concluded in May that the flashes came from sunlight reflecting off debris, including a helicopter canopy — not gunfire. The report supports the findings a previous court-ordered re-enactment in March also conducted by Vector Data Systems. That simulation found the flashes were most likely sunlight reflecting off debris, not government gunfire as plaintiffs claim. The Associated Press contributed to this report.