ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 17, 1997 TAG: 9704170060
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND?
SOURCE: RAY REED
Q: Timothy McVeigh's trial is imminent. What has been the cost to the taxpayer for the lead attorney, Stephen Jones, per hour and cost to date for his legal services? How many lawyers are on the defense team at what additional cost? Also, please contrast this fee to save a life legally to the cost to save a life medically.
J.S., Wytheville
A: Jones is paid $125 per hour according to reports in Oklahoma and Denver newspapers.
Three other members of McVeigh's defense team also get $125, which is perhaps one-fourth their normal rate in private practice.
The defense team has 16 members, some of whom earn as little as $10 an hour. In addition, there are consultants for specific tasks within the trial. Printing and copying costs, phone bills and travel also can be charged by the defense.
Taxpayers will get the bill for all defense expenses and the prosecution's costs as well.
How much have we paid so far? There's no way to know. A federal judge in Oklahoma sealed the expense accounts early on; the tab will be opened after the trial and after interest recedes.
The government is looking beyond McVeigh's right to be represented at trial. It wants to make sure that if he's found guilty, the public will know that both his defense and prosecutors had equal amounts of skill, aggressiveness and resources.
Jones has headed McVeigh's defense since May 1995. Presuming he billed the government for 160 hours per month at $125, Jones would be paid $440,000 to this point.
That, however, is one piece of the account. Until December, Jones traveled between his office in Enid, Okla., and Denver, the trial site.
He moved his defense team to Denver in January, and the cost of maintaining it there is estimated at $50,000 per month. The trial is expected to take five months.
Joseph Hartzler, an assistant U.S. attorney from Springfield, Ill., heads an eight-member prosecution team.
It's hard to make a valid comparison for your question about the medical vs. legal cost of saving lives.
Sometimes, lifesaving procedures can be relatively simple in either profession; in other cases, they require extensive work and staff time.
One comparison might be worth making, though: O.J. Simpson's defense expenses for criminal, civil and child custody trials were estimated at $3.5 million by Time magazine in January.
McVeigh's trial started March 31 and lawyers still are interviewing prospective jurors. He is accused of blowing up the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. McVeigh could receive the death penalty if found guilty of the murders of eight federal law enforcement officers who were among the 168 people killed.
State prosecutors in Oklahoma say they'll file charges in the other deaths.
Lava flow slows
Q: What's inside a lava lamp? I've had mine about 10 years and it has lost its energy. I took the lamp apart and there's a spring inside the base that had rusted, so I strained the contents with cloth to try to get rid of the particles. The liquid seems to be just colored water, but what's the waxy stuff that floats?
V.H., Elliston
A: You've gotten as close to the lava secret as anyone's likely to get. You've actually touched it.
The spring is a coil that collects heat from the light bulb and gives the lava a warm surface from which to rise.
The water is, as you say, colored water.
The lava - that oozy, nebulous stuff that fascinates people or grosses them out (there's no in-between) - is a trade secret.
Haggerty Enterprises Inc. of Chicago, the manufacturer, says the lava is a wax with 14 secret ingredients that make the stuff undulate.
The chairman, John Mundy, has said only four or five
people know the formula. The success of each batch depends on workers who see that it floats at the right pace.
It's an unexplained phenomenon of the marketplace that these lamps - icons of the '60s, really - have made a comeback in the past few years. If you want, you should be able to pick up a replacement fairly easily.
Got a question about something that might affect other people, too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Maybe we can find the answer. Call us at 981-3118. Or, e-mail RAYR@Roanoke.com
LENGTH: Medium: 88 linesby CNB