In 1996 and 1997 she served as one of the trial lawyers for Timothy McVeigh in the Oklahoma City bombing case , after the court venue moved to Denver . In 1995 she received the first annual Marshall Stern Legislative Achievement Award , from the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers ( NACDL ) , for which she has served as a member of the Board of Directors ( 1995 – 2001 ) , secretary ( 2002 – 2003 ) and treasurer ( 2003 – 2004 ) , as the vice-chair of NACDL 's Innocence Project from 1998 to 2002 and on other committees . In 2008 she received the Al Horn Award from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws ( NORML ) , " a Lifetime achievement award for advancing the cause of justice and extraordinary support of NORML . " After giving up her practice for a year and a half in order to work on the McVeigh defense team , since 1997 , Merritt has continued her own criminal defense practice emphasizing federal drug and white collar crimes and has served as a legal analyst for and commentator on television news programs . From 1997 to 1999 , she served as a television legal analyst for MSNBC , and , from 1996 to 2008 , as a guest legal commentator on television for NBC , MSNBC , CNBC , CNN , Court TV and Fox News , presenting her perspective as a criminal defense attorney on contemporary legal cases being covered on national media news programs . Merritt is also a specialist in the use of the internet as a legal research resource and presents seminars and speeches on its use in investigation , on handwriting analysis , and on other matters pertaining to her legal specialties
Oklahoma City bombing
Oklahoma City bombing
Jeralyn Merritt