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The woman credited with helping bring about
the surrender of accused courthouse gunman Brian Nichols recounted
at his murder trial Monday how she appealed to his religious
beliefs during hours in captivity before persuading him to set her
free.
Authorities say Ashley Smith Robinson's calm
dealings with her captor helped bring an end to Nichols' rampage
after he burst into her suburban Atlanta apartment and held her
for seven hours.
"I said whatever was necessary to get
on his good side, I guess," she testified Monday.
If convicted, Nichols, 36, could face the
death penalty for a 2005 shooting spree that began in a downtown
Atlanta courthouse that left a judge, a court reporter, a deputy
and a federal agent dead. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of
insanity to murder charges.
Testifying in the third week of trial, Smith
Robinson told the jury she persuaded Nichols to let her leave the
apartment after reading him passages from a religious book and
giving him drugs from a hidden stash. She called authorities, who
arrested Nichols hours later.
Smith Robinson was a waitress and single
mother who was battling with drug addiction when Nichols took her
hostage. Since Nichols' arrest, Smith has emerged as a heroine and
her story has been held up as an example of the redemptive power
of faith.
She has received more than $70,000 in
rewards, written a book about the ordeal and joined the speaking
circuit to recount the saga.
In court Monday, Smith Robinson demonstrated
how Nichols tied her up after he burst into her apartment. She
said Nichols described himself as a "soldier for the
people" and told jurors she gave him methamphetamine when he
asked for it, but didn't use the drug herself.
"When I chose not to do drugs with him,
I felt a sense of peace," said Smith Robinson, who was
testifying for the prosecution.
She also described another, more pensive
side to Nichols.
While watching news reports of the crimes,
she said, Nichols muttered to himself "God, please forgive
me." She also pulled out Rick Warren's book "The Purpose
Driven Life" and read to Nichols a chapter to gain his trust.
At one point, she said, Nichols described
himself as a "brother in Christ."
As they spent time together, she said,
Nichols slowly felt more comfortable. He called her a
"ride-or-die chick" - slang, she told an inquisitive
prosecutor, that meant "I was in good with him."
"He told me he wished he would have met
me on different terms," she said. "That we could have
been friends."
She also said Nichols tried to recruit her
for a bank robbery.
"I quickly said `no,'" Smith
Robinson said.
After seven hours in captivity, she said,
Nichols released her to allow her to see her daughter, Paige. He
even asked her to tell her daughter "hello" for him, she
said.
Smith Robinson then called police, who soon
surrounded her apartment and arrested Nichols.
As she spoke, Nichols sat silently, at times
glancing toward Smith Robinson. Tears well up in her eyes a few
times as she talked about the first terrifying moments after he
burst into her house and, later, when she talked about her
decision to give up drug use.
Prosecutors say Nichols was being escorted
to a courtroom where he was being tried for rape on March 11,
2005, when he beat a deputy guarding him, stole her gun and went
on a shooting spree.
Nichols is accused of fatally shooting
Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes and court reporter Julie Ann
Brandau in the courthouse and sheriff's Deputy Hoyt Teasley just
outside the building. A fourth victim, federal agent David
Wilhelm, was killed at a north Atlanta home he was renovating.
During a large-scale manhunt, prosecutors
said, Nichols fled to Gwinnett County, where he took Smith
Robinson hostage.
She is among dozens of witnesses expected to
be called to testify in the trial, which could last until
Christmas.
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