Judge to decide Nichols' fate; jurors deadlock on death penalty

A judge is set to decide whether to sentence courthouse gunman Brian Nichols to life in prison with or without parole. Fulton County Superior Court Judge James Bodiford declared a deadlock in the trial against Nichols after jurors failed to reach a unanimous decision on whether to sentence him to death. State law requires Bodiford to decide which life prison sentence to give Nichols. Prosecutors had urged jurors to sentence Nichols to death after he was convicted last month of murder and dozens of other counts in the 2005 killings. Nichols was on trial for rape when he grabbed a guard's gun and fatally four people, including a judge, a court reporter and a sheriff's deputy and a federal agent.

(Associated Press)