U.S. Attorney Michael Bradford (L) with the plaintiffs' lawyer, Michael Caddell
The plaintiffs: Don't expect any crying for David Koresh. Caddell has long claimed that his opening arguments would kick off with the words "I am not here to defend David Koresh." He'd much prefer that the trial deal not with why the FBI siege began, but with how it was ended: with a plan whose tactics had critics within the law-enforcement agency, whose execution was less than perfect, and the end result of which was the fiery death of women and children as well as the bad guys. Who started the fire — the key point for conspiracy theorists, owing to the troubling government flip-flopping on the use of incendiary devices — will be merely a part of Caddell's larger picture of FBI bumbling.
The defense: The government scored a big procedural victory Monday when it was allowed to introduce transcripts of Branch Davidian conversations intercepted by FBI listening devices during the siege. In the transcripts — prepared by a government expert, conspiracy buffs will note — Branch Davidian leaders joke about their compound's lack of accessibility to the fire department, and David Koresh muses drily about an FBI agent's head exploding. Such are not the linchpins of an excessive-force case. Government lawyers are already on Judge Walter S. Smith's bad side for procedural hijinks in the trial's runup. They'll have to be embarrassed all over again about the incendiary devices. But if the case turns on the character of the victims, the name Koresh will take the government a long way.
The jury: Four women and three men, chosen in a surprisingly expeditious impaneling Monday. Since the government is the defendant, an actual jury was legally unnecessary but helpful in making it look as if justice is served (the alternative is a federal judge). A gym teacher, an electrician, a homemaker, an accountant, a secretary, a landlord and a retired Army sergeant — these seven have the task of sorting through 51 days of mounting frustrations and one of bloody mayhem, and assigning blame for an outcome that nobody was proud of.
The verdict: Whatever it is, it holds little promise for anyone. Caddell's scaled-down case has already irked the militia types — in conspiracy theory, there are no mistakes — and a guilty verdict will only whet their appetites further. Exoneration would do little to repair the Justice Department's damaged reputation. Afterward, the town of Waco will still be infamous, and wishing the Branch Davidians had picked someplace in Montana to make their stand. And no matter how hard Caddell and the Davidians try to turn a tragedy into a crime, the dead will still be dead, and men like David Koresh will still be just as responsible for that as any FBI agent with a hair trigger.