Sen. Biden blames many of the new prosecutions on ethics legislation which was intended to reform government after the Watergate scandal.
This spring, in their new prosecution of the convicted Genovese boss, Vincent Gigante, who for many years delayed a 1997 conviction by claiming he was mentally ill, the Brooklyn prosecutors are expected to introduce prison surveillance tapes.
Aren Almon-Kok, whose baby daughter, Baylee, was killed in the bombing and who is expecting the birth of another daughter next month, said she opposed a new prosecution of Mr. Nichols and Mr. McVeigh, 29, who was convicted of conspiracy and murder in June and sentenced to death.
They must pass polygraph examinations to ensure full disclosure, and they face the prospect of new prosecutions for previously undisclosed crimes.
But legal experts said yesterday that while any new charges against the men would present serious legal hurdles, it was far from clear that a new prosecution for obstruction of justice would be barred by law.
Federal prosecutions for other crimes have grown tremendously, with the number of total new prosecutions filed for all federal crimes nearly doubling over the last decade:.
In Texas' southern federal court district this year, where nearly 90percentt of all new prosecutions were for illegal entry and re-entry into the United States, federal authorities are looking for more room to hold detainees, many of whom are charged with immigration crimes.
Federal law, he said, permits a new prosecution arising out of the same circumstances if an element of the crime that prosecutors must prove would be different.
The paucity of criminal cases indicates the likelihood of new prosecution against firms or individuals for conduct related to the sale of those securities is quite low.
