OPENING SHOTS

Stephen Jones, the colorful, self-aggrandizing attorney for Timothy McVeigh, was feeling smug last week. With the Oklahoma City bombing case drawing to within two months of its trial date, he and the government were providing an advance look at their rival strategies. In a conversation with TIME, Jones savored disclosures that he believes will complicate the prosecution. "Our case is in better shape," he said. "Tim and I feel very good about the case."

What has made Jones and "Tim" feel very good, first of all, is a Justice Department report on the FBI crime lab in Washington that criticizes some of the handling of evidence from the Oklahoma City bombing. The other development is last week's filing of a brief that gives a new, comprehensive description of the witnesses the government plans to call. In much more detail than an account back in 1995, the brief describes the witnesses' confusion about the man they said accompanied McVeigh when he rented a Ryder truck--the infamous John Doe No. 2. The disclosure calls into question the reliability of these crucial witnesses.

FBI officials insist that nothing about the Oklahoma City investigation has been compromised and that none of the disclosures pose a real danger to prosecution of the case. Even so, the episodes show how the defense may be able to exploit flaws in the government's case against McVeigh, whose trial begins March 31 in Denver and will be followed by the trial of co-defendant Terry Nichols. Both could face the death penalty if convicted of carrying out the bombing, which killed 168 people.

The lapses in the FBI crime lab have triggered a staff shake-up. On Jan. 20 the Justice Department gave FBI officials a preliminary report that found errors, sloppiness and poor management in the agency's crime lab. The investigation had its origins in charges made since the mid-1980s by Frederic Whitehurst, a senior chemist. The report is still secret, but Justice and FBI officials say that while it found nothing illegal, it did identify some serious lapses. FBI Director Louis Freeh has already launched reforms. Meanwhile, the agency announced that three bomb investigators have been removed from their positions and that Whitehurst has been suspended with pay for his own serious errors.

One of the men transferred is David Williams, the senior explosives expert on the scene in Oklahoma City. Soon after the blast, Williams announced that the bomb had consisted of about 4,000 lbs. of ammonium nitrate and exploded at a velocity of about 13,000 ft. per sec. According to officials, the report severely criticizes Williams for basing his observations on his experience and instinct rather than precise measurements. In fact, his assessment was accurate. But FBI managers concur with the report that the lab's chief failing has been the practice of letting veteran explosives specialists--"the bomb guys"--write reports and give testimony that reflect their surmises rather than careful calculations.

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