Fed Judge Explains Reasons for Siegelman Imprisonment while Awaiting Appeal

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Federal judge explains reasons for keeping Siegelman in prison while awaiting appeal
Calls reversal of conviction unlikely

Thursday, January 03, 2008
KIM CHANDLER
News staff writer
MONTGOMERY - Nearly two months after being ordered by an appellate court to explain his reasoning, a federal judge wrote Wednesday that he won't allow former Gov. Don Siegelman out of prison while appealing his conviction because he doesn't believe the conviction will be overturned.

U.S. District Judge Mark Fuller issued a 30-page order ruling that Siegelman should not be freed while he appeals his conviction. Fuller last year sent Siegelman directly to federal prison after he was sentenced to serve seven years, four months in prison for his conviction on bribery and obstruction of justice charges.

Judges with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals twice ordered Fuller to provide a more detailed explanation of his decision, once in September and again in November.

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Fuller wrote that defense lawyers had not shown a substantial question likely to reverse the conviction.

Quid pro quo:

He rejected defense arguments that prosecutors failed to prove a quid pro quo deal between the men to swap the campaign money for the appointment. Fuller said the specific statute under which Scrushy and Siegelman were convicted did not require proving they had a deal to swap the appointment for the donation. However, his instructions to the jury "sufficiently apprised the jury of that requirement," Fuller wrote.

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