By Marcus Kabel
Waco, Texas - The faces of 13 children who died in the fiery end of the Branch Davidian siege dominated the opening on Tuesday of a trial that pits sect survivors against the United States government over who is to blame for the 1993 conflagration that killed about 80 Davidians.
In opening arguments to the jury in a $675-million (about R4,6-billion) wrongful death lawsuit against the government by Branch Davidians and relatives of those killed, the plaintiffs' lead lawyer Michael Caddell played a video of the children and put their pictures on a board as he read out their names and ages.
The children, aged from one to 17, "never owned a gun, never used a gun, never broke the law, never hurt anyone", Caddell said.
"I am not here to defend David Koresh," Caddell said, referring to the Branch Davidian leader who was among those killed when their central Texas compound went up in flames six hours after the FBI started a tear gas and tank assault to end a 51-day stand-off.
In a setback for the plaintiffs, US District Judge Walter Smith ruled they could not use depositions and memos from FBI negotiators.
The plaintiffs had argued the documents proved the FBI's own experts believed the Branch Davidians would surrender with time and that storming the compound could have deadly consequences.
The judge granted the government's request to bar the evidence under laws that protect federal agencies' so-called discretionary function, or their ability to make decisions without being second-guessed later in court.
Caddell acknowledged the Davidians had a large stockpile of guns and ammunition, including high-powered rifles and 156 assault rifles, many of them illegally converted from semi-automatic to automatic firing function.
But he argued the fatal conflict was the government's fault from the start, when a raid on the Mount Carmel compound sparked the stand-off.
Four federal agents and six Davidians were killed in a gunbattle when the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms tried to arrest Koresh on weapons charges and search the compound.
Caddell also said evidence would show the FBI caused two of three fires that burned down the compound on April 19 by firing in tear gas and using tanks to tear holes in the walls in an effort to force an end to the stand-off on April 19.
Finally, the FBI was at fault for not having plans to fight a fire even though they should have known one could start, Caddell argued. The FBI on-scene commanders violated their orders with the tank assault and by lacking firefighting equipment, he charged.
Government lawyers countered that the Davidians, under their leader David Koresh, were an "armed encampment" with an apocalyptic vision that the end of the world would start with a violent conflict with the ATF.
US attorney Michael Bradford said evidence showed the Davidians chose to set fire to their own buildings instead of surrendering on the final day and that many of those inside, including Koresh and a number of children he had fathered with several women, died of gunshots from close range.
"All of the evidence is consistent with suicide," Bradford said.
Bradford said the FBI on-scene commander Jeffery Jamar and the chief of the hostage rescue team, Richard Rogers, did not violate an operations plan approved by Attorney-General Janet Reno by sending in two tanks to punch holes in the walls.
Caddell called as his first witness a woman who survived the fire.
Rita Riddle said she was a periodic visitor to the compound who came for Bible study vacations. She said she rarely saw anyone with a gun, knew nothing about a plot to ambush the ATF agents and never fired at them during the raid.
"Mount Carmel was a place where people from all over went to study the Bible. It was a pleasant place to be," she said.
The plaintiffs also called survivors Jaunessa Wendel, who was eight when Mount Carmel burned, and Natalie Nobrega, who was 10 at the time. Both girls were injured and lost parents in the siege.
Bradford said the government planned to call witnesses including ATF and FBI agents involved in the original raid and the stand-off.
The panel of six jurors and one alternate, whose names are being kept confidential because of the controversial nature of the case, will act as an advisory jury to US District Judge Walter Smith. Smith can accept or overturn the jury's verdict in his final decision.
The trial is expected to last about one month. - Reuters