Tainted Prosecutors File Appeal Brief in Siegelman Case
August 5th, 2008The tainted U.S. attorney’s office in Montgomery is sticking by its case against former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman and HealthSouth founder Richard Scrushy and has now filed its brief with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta asking that the case be upheld, although most informed legal sources now recognize that it was a strictly political prosecution from the outset.
AP: U.S. Attorneys Ask Court to Uphold Siegelman Conviction
The brief disputes the arguments made by attorneys for Siegelman and Scrushy in their appeal brief, the main focus of which is whether there was an explicit quid pro quo to support convictions for “bribery.”
On the issue of juror misconduct, for reading news coverage of the case online and communicating with other members of the jury via e-mail, the prosecutors claim there was an investigation of that, even though they admitted recently they never told the defense lawyers about it and the judge utterly failed to conduct due diligence to investigate.
Siegelman’s main attorney, Vince Kilborn, told the AP Monday that he doesn’t believe the government brief hurt the chances of his client and Scrushy winning on appeal.
“The government has not dented the basic argument that in a political setting it is required to prove an explicit quid pro quo,” Kilborn said. And he said the trial judge, Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Fuller, given a lifetime appointment by President George W. Bush in 2002 just in time to try the case, never fully investigated if the purported e-mails were authentic.
Lawyers for Siegelman and Scrushy now have 45 days to reply to the filing by the Bush prosecution team. The three-judge panel in Atlanta has indicated it expects to hold oral arguments in the appeal after studying the briefs from both sides.
Tags: Siegelman Appeal
August 5th, 2008 at 11:55 am
For the good people of Alabama who may be confused about this case, perhaps because they sometimes bother to read anonymous blogs written by people with no journalism experience whatsoever, here’s a critical question to ask and think about.
Even if you lost money on HealthSouth stock and believe all the biased local reporting about Siegelman, ask yourself: Who has committed the bigger crime here? Scrushy for cashing in his stock options? Siegelman for taking a motorcycle?
Or the Bush administration, where stench from the growing list of high crimes and misdemeanors against the earth, the country and the Constitution can be smelled all the way around the world in South Korea today, where the police were caught on video tape shooting water cannons at the crowd protesting Bush’s visit there.
South Korean Police Fire Water Cannons at Bush Protesters
You may now repeat the cliche: “Only in Alabama.” Only in Alabama would people believe the local corporate newspaper and anonymous bloggers.
August 5th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
[...] News » News Tainted Prosecutors File Appeal Brief in Siegelman Case2008-08-05 14:47:50Of Governor Don Siegelman and has now filed its case against former Alabama [...]
August 6th, 2008 at 2:22 am
[...] News » News Tainted Prosecutors File Appeal Brief in Siegelman Case2008-08-06 01:22:47Of Governor Don Siegelman and has now filed its case against former Alabama [...]