VERDICT In Federal Bingo TRIAL Shines New Light On The Don SIEGELMAN Case

[Segami]

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UPQQPKAYGXQ/TklQp6kdDbI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/DF4LYhRcBsI/s200/Myron+Thompson.jpg
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson



:smoke:



" The outcome of the federal Alabama bingo trial, which produced zero convictions for nine defendants and 37 counts, has been described as "one of the most remarkable setbacks nationally" for federal prosecutors in decades. It also has been described as a "humiliation of epic proportions" for the Obama Justice Department and its Bush DOJ holdovers.


In a narrower sense, the bingo verdict provides proof that the Don Siegelman case, perhaps the most notorious political prosecution in American history, was unlawfully decided. It also provides proof that at least one other Bush-era political prosecution, that of Mississippi attorney Paul Minor, was unlawfully decided. Ironically, the proof comes from the reporting of The Birmingham News, perhaps the leading mainstream-media cheerleader for federal prosecutors in "public corruption" cases. Do you want even more irony? The Birmingham News has repeatedly praised the work of prosecutors and judges who ramrodded the Siegelman case--and the newspaper has hinted over and over that, in its view, the Siegelman case was decided correctly.


Isn't it interesting, then, that Alabama's largest newspaper winds up providing proof that the Siegelman case was NOT correctly decided. Do you think the News' editorial higher ups, the leading mouthpieces for our state's corrupt elites, will even notice what they have done? I doubt it. Since the verdict was announced last Thursday, the News' coverage has reflected this primary theme: The defendants really were guilty, but prosecutors from Washington screwed up the case. As usual, columnist John Archibald carries the water for his big bosses, with a piece titled "Verdict No Surprise: Prosecutors Bungled Bingo Case." Consider this analysis from Archibald:

Federal prosecutors, especially the superstars brought in by Washington, had more slip-ups than a blindfolded banana peeler on a hockey rink.

They stumbled picking a jury and fumbled as they misjudged the role politics would play in the defense strategy. They bumbled as they failed to realize how their star witnesses would ooze on the stand, coming across, after pummeling by the defense, as self-serving, politically driven and racist.

cont'



http://legalschnauzer.blogspot.com/2011/08/verdict-in-federal-bingo-trial-shines.html



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[drm604]

1. Bingo trial?

This is the first I've heard anything about a bingo trial.

Can you explain this, and it's relation to Don Siegelman?

[closeupready]

2. I believe the reference to bingo is somehow connected to the Abramoff scandal

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2954431

[Segami]

4. These TPM articles might shed some historical light on these proceedings.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/bingo_bribery/


Update late today:

"..... federal prosecutors indicated Monday that they'll give it another go on the charges that weren't unanimously acquitted. A judge has scheduled a new trial for October...."

- Former U.S. Attorney Doug Jones, who briefly represented a casino owner who pleaded guilty, told the Associated Press that the case was a "disaster" for the Justice Department, which had touted their case as a "full-scale" bribery scheme that was "astonishing in scope."

"The government hoisted its flag and walked away with nothing," he said


- One of the federal prosecutors involved in the case, Brenda Morris, was also involved in the botched prosecution of the late Sen. Ted Stevens. Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, who heads the Justice Department's Criminal Division, previously defended Morris as one of the "excellent" lawyers on the team.



cont'



http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/08/after_major_setback_feds_set_to_retry_alabama_pols_casino_owner_in_bingo_bribery_case_in_october.php?ref=fpb



.

[eppur_se_muova]

6. Go to al.com and search for bingo --

of course this is not an unbiased source, since it's the home of the B'ham Times.

http://search.al.com/bingo

[Supersedeas]

3. Senator Jeff Sessions is probably celebrating somewhere

[malaise]

5. Kick n/t