After more than three years and a tangled trail of frustrating legal delays , the man who killed four people in a brazen courthouse escape was sentenced Saturday to prison for life without parole and hundreds of years more .
life without parole
year tangled trail frustrating legal delay man kill people brazen courthouse escape sentence saturday prison life parole hundred year
After more than three years and a tangled trail of frustrating legal delays , the man who killed four people in a brazen courthouse escape was sentenced Saturday to prison for <m> life without parole </m> and hundreds of years more .
After more than three years and a tangled trail of frustrating legal delays , the man who killed four people in a brazen courthouse escape was sentenced Saturday to prison for <m> life without parole </m> and hundreds of years more .
Yet prosecutors who spent the last month urging jurors to sentence one of Atlanta 's most notorious criminals to death were not celebrating .
`` The community has spoken , '' Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said at an emotional press conference after the sentencing of Brian Nichols .
`` Even though we are puzzled and terribly disappointed by the decision , we must accept the conclusion provided by our community . ''
It showed how difficult it is to get a capital sentence in Atlanta 's Fulton County , where death penalties are rare even in a state where support for capital punishment is widespread .
Georgia tied for third in carrying out executions last year .
And it underscored the problems Georgia prosecutors say they frequently face with the requirement that death sentences can only be returned by unanimous jury verdicts .
Nichols , 37 , was found guilty last month of murdering a judge , a court reporter , a sheriff 's deputy and a federal agent in the March 2005 rampage .
After four days deliberating on whether to recommend the death penalty , the jury deadlocked at 9-3 .
Nichols will likely die in prison after Superior Court Judge James Bodiford handed down the maximum prison sentence on each of 54 charges .
The deadlock devastated prosecutors , who had turned down an offer from Nichols ' attorneys to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence .
The trial has already cost more than $ 2 million , likely the most expensive in state history .
And it may not be over yet:
Howard said he 's talked to the U.S. Attorney about a federal death penalty trial for the federal agent 's slaying .
In the meantime , Howard and some state legislative leaders said Georgia 's death penalty rules should be changed .
`` Georgia is a conservative state , but there are pockets where it is not , '' said state Rep. Barry Fleming , a Republican who led a failed bid last year to allow judges to approve death penalties even if one or two jurors voted against it .
`` There are people who will attempt to nullify the law when they get on the jury . ''
The last time a Fulton County jury issued a death sentence was eight years ago , and only then for a triple murderer who killed a toddler .
One factor could be race .
The county is 43 percent black , and numerous polls and surveys have found that blacks are more likely than whites to oppose capital punishment .
Eight of the jurors were black .
The three who voted against the death penalty would not comment , but Howard said other jurors told him the three holdouts refused to deliberate .
He said he was told that one was wearing headphones during the closed-door discussions this week .
Two jurors who spoke at Howard 's news conference but declined to be identified said they worked hard to try to reach a verdict .
`` I believe Brian Nichols did not win .
In his own words , he said it 's not his DNA to stay in jail , which is what he has to look forward to the rest of his life , '' said Christina Greenway , daughter of slain court reporter Julie Ann Brandau .
`` I 'm not disappointed and I have no regrets . ''
Nichols was being escorted to his trial for rape when he overpowered a deputy guarding him and stole her gun .
He burst into the courtroom and shot and killed Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes , Brandau and sheriff 's Deputy Hoyt Teasley .
He fled downtown Atlanta and managed to evade hundreds of police officers searching for him overnight .
In Atlanta 's posh Buckhead neighborhood , he shot and killed federal agent David Wilhelm at a house the agent was renovating .
Death penalty experts said the Nichols verdict shows there 's no telling what will happen when a jury is asked to settle a capital case .
`` It 's very hard for 12 people to sit down around the table to make a decision to put another human being to death , '' said Stephen Bright , a Yale Law School lecturer and a veteran capital defense attorney .
Nichols , who argued he was insane when he carried out the killings , spoke for the first time in court on Saturday as relatives of the victims ' families quietly wept .
`` I just wanted to say that I know that the things I 've done caused a lot of pain and I 'm sorry , '' he said .
`` And I just wanted to say that I will not bring dishonor to the decision to spare my life .
That 's it . ''
The judge had advice for anyone who deals with Nichols in the future:
`` Do not trust Mr. Nichols ever again .
Ever again .
Because he can not be trusted . ''