Today is Sunday, March 8, 2020.

On this day in 1999, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the murder conviction of Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City

bomber. Welcome to today in True Crime, a parcast original.

Today we're covering the Supreme Court's decision not to hear an appeals case for the Oklahoma City bomber.

Let's go back to the morning of March 8, 1999,

to the office of attorney Richard Burr in Texas. Richard Burr sat behind his desk pretending to do business as usual.

He was supposed to be reviewing files, but really he was waiting for news,

whether his latest client would live or die.

Burr had been a lawyer for over 20 years.

He took cases that other lawyers wouldn't touch, defending people society had failed.

He was a staunch proponent against the death penalty, and today he'd find out if he'd won his latest battle.

Months before, he'd filed an appeal known as a writ of certiorari

for a client on death row.

Every year, the Supreme Court receives over 5,000 Ritz of certiorari.

Each highlights the injustice that a person feels has happened to them in the lower courts.

In order for a case to be heard, it needs to be voted on by at least four justices who believe

that there is something up for debate.

However, the court hears less than a hundred cases a year,

so Burr knew the odds inherently weren't good, but he had previously presented two other cases in front of the Supreme Court.

He knew what he was doing when he sent up the writ of certiorari.

He also knew this case was different. His client was one of the most hated men in the United States.

It had been four years, but the sting of what happened hadn't lessened.

...