Nichols' defense: 'I was a slave rebelling'

Jurors are debating the fate of a confessed gunman who says he was legally insane when he killed four people in a shooting spree that began at a downtown Atlanta courthouse. Thirty-six-year-old Brian Nichols faces the death penalty in the fatal shootings of a judge, a court reporter, a deputy and a federal agent in the 2005 rampage. But he has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. He claims he was gripped by a delusional compulsion that he was a slave rebelling against authority. The 12 jurors have several options. They include convicting or exonerating him, finding him not guilty by reason of insanity or guilty but mentally ill. Another option -- rare in Georgia's judicial system -- would require the prison system to evaluate Nichols and determine a punishment. If a jury returns either of the guilty verdicts, the panel must then decide if he deserves the death sentence. If he's found not guilty by reason of insanity, he will likely go to a state mental hospital.

(Associated Press)