People: Aitan Goelman

HIGH PROFILE PROSECUTOR

So far this year, no trial has enjoyed a higher profile than Timothy McVeigh's for the Oklahoma City bombing. McVeigh's ultimate conviction was partly due to the prosecution team's meticulous attention to details. One key performer on the nine-member prosecutor's team was Aitan Goelman, '90, who zeroed in on some highly technical areas involving 'almost all the phone records as well as a debit card.' Goelman was also responsible for the expert who matched the key codes to the Ryder truck present during the bombing. 'It was a terrific experience, one I'll take with me the rest of my life,' says Aitan, who is with the U.S. Justice Dept.'s Terrorism and Violent Crimes section. 'But we don't get any rest. We have to jump right into the next trial (Terry Nichols).'

Altogether Aitan conducted direct examinations on some 30 of the prosecution's 137 witnesses, and helped out on a number of cross-examinations as well. Was he nervous with all the media attention? 'I thought I might be nervous,' he admits. 'But once you stand up there, it's the same as trying a misdemeanor case in Superior Court.'

A native of Philadelphia, Aitan came to MSU's James Madison College on an Alumni Distinguished Scholarship and graduated summa cum laude. After getting his Juris Doctor from Yale, where he was senior editor of the Yale Law Journal, he spent a year in Israel clerking for Chief Justice Aharon Barak. In 1994 he moved to the U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington DC, where he made many appearances before the U.S. Supreme Court.

In October 1995, he was assigned as a trial prosecutor in the McVeigh case. 'I'm corny enough to be excited when they announce, 'Aitan Goelman, special attorney to the U.S. Attorney General,'' he says. 'One of the high moments of my life came when the guilty verdict came out. There were hundreds of people in the street. Some where family members of the victims, but hundreds were just plain citizens. When we walked out, there was a crescendo of applause. I got chills.'