Source:
Raw StoryGovernment opposes appeal by imprisoned attorney to visit dying wifeLarisa Alexandrovna
Published: Tuesday July 29, 2008
The Department of Justice and prosecutors in Mississippi have filed a motion opposing the appeal of Mississippi trial lawyer Paul Minor to visit his dying wife. Minor, who became famous for taking on big tobacco in the 1990s, is now imprisoned on what many consider to be questionable charges. The primary grounds for denial offered by Justice Department attorneys is that letting Minor visit his wife would present “a danger to the community.” They cite an “incident” when he was found drunk and escorted out of a hotel by security while free on pre-trial bond, after which he was ordered to attend treatment for alcoholism, as well as an occasion when he met with a hurricane expert at a restaurant near his home while he was supposed to be under house arrest.
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Diaz was twice acquitted, and Minor and the other judges were acquitted on most of the government’s charges during the first trial. Lampton then brought additional charges which resulted in a second trial and the conviction of Minor, Teel and Whitfield. Minor has been incarcerated for more than two years during his appeal. For some, he is yet another victim of political prosecution by a politicized Department of Justice. Others bemoan his lionization as "pro-convict, pro-bribery rotgut" and say, "Minor had a total disregard for the Court."
"Government prosecutors have chosen to continue the political prosecution of Paul Minor," Justice Diaz wrote RAW STORY by email Tuesday. "In a case where even the
has raised the question of improprieties, these prosecutors have refused to show compassion for a man whose wife is dying with cancer Instead, the politicization of the criminal justice system is continued by these protégée of Monica Goodling." Lampton’s office did not return calls for comment.
As previously reported by Raw Story, Minor’s wife Sylvia developed breast cancer during the trial, which metastasized to her brain and lungs. Last month doctors stopped all medications other than those for pain management, indicating that Mrs. Minor is in the final stages of her illness. Minor has been attempting to get an appeal bond to be with his wife before she passes
Read more: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Imprisoned_attorney_denied_right_to_visit_0728.html