Franken Legal Team: Coleman Is Doctoring Evidence

[kpete]

Source: Talking Points Memo

Franken Legal Team: Coleman Is Doctoring Evidence
By Eric Kleefeld - January 23, 2009, 12:53PM

At a pre-trial hearing in the Minnesota election lawsuit just now, Franken attorney Kevin Hamilton made a striking accusation: That the Coleman campaign has been doctoring evidence.

As an example, Hamilton showed two photocopies of a rejected absentee ballot envelope, one of which he said was the unaltered original, and the other taken from Coleman's legal filings in his attempts to get more of the rejected ballots opened. The Coleman copy was missing the section in which a local election official explained why it was rejected.

"We would not be able to stipulate to the authenticity of a document where the key portion has been cut out," Hamilton complained.

Coleman attorney James Langdon expressed his absolute surprise. "What he has pointed out is news to me," said Langdon. "There has been no effort on our part to be anything other than absolutely truthful."

Read more: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/franken-lega...

[FLAprogressive]

1. Polident needs to give it up.

[bertman]

38. "Polident"

[CatWoman]

59. may I echo that?

[stevedeshazer]

60. Givin' it up for that!!

[BattyDem]

2. Uh oh ... Norm may be trading his Senate seat for a prison cell.

I love the explanation by Coleman's attorney:

Langdon speculated that there may have been a photocopying problem.

A photocopying problem ... that just happens to block out a portion of the document that could determine the way a judge rules on the issue, yet doesn't block out anything else.



edited: typo

[Dinger]

30. That Has A Nice Ring To It : )

[dflprincess]

33. The mere thought of Norm in prison makes me tingle

[Optical.Catalyst]

58. Doesn't make me tingle, just happy

[yellowcanine]

34. "Photocopying problem" - sounds kind of like the Rosemary Woods' explanation

of the 18 minute gap.

[LaPera]

35. Republicans don't give a shit if Coleman goes to jail-They just want that senate seat for the next

six years....they couldn't care less about Coleman....the republicans know if Coleman goes to jail the Minnesota republican governor will simply appoint another republican to that senate seat for the next six years....

The seat belongs to Franken but the republicans are doing all they can to steal it....and playing dumb saying they (republicans) are just being "absolutely truthful."....Ever heard such bullshit, republicans playing fair & being "absolutely truthful"?

We can't let the republicans steal a senate seat for the next 6 years!!

[HowHasItComeToThis]

71. WILL OBAMA ENFORCE THE RICO ACT ON THE REPULSIVES?

[Joe Chi Minh]

52. Gee whizz! Is there no criminal behaviour and punishment they won't risk involvement in?

[Royal Sloan 09]

3. K n R

WTF, more wasted taxpayers dollars for criminals to commit crimes? Enough, Franken won the recounts, stop this abuse of the taxpayer's fund for frivolous claims!

[LiberalFighter]

4. The judge(s) are failing to do their job in this case.

The court took no action on this for now, instead asking the parties to first try to work out any differences on evidence between themselves.

If they didn't want to deal directly with the issue then they should had appointed someone with a good reputation for election cases to rule on it.

[AlbertCat]

39. Get real!

the parties to first try to work out any differences on evidence between themselves.
*************************


If the parties are to work things out themselves....what are the friggin' courts for? They are in court BECAUSE THEY CANNOT WORK IT OUT THEMSELVES! Jesus!

If the Judicial is getting tired of it all, then THROW IT OUT AND ANNOUNCE FRANKEN THE SENATOR.

[Grinchie]

44. Read As: The Legal System is Borken, send them to the Arena of Death

Honestly, the U.S. Legal System is so overbloated, complicated and expensive that a single take consumes time mesured in Man-Years to get anything resolved.

Selective prosecution of existing laws, as well as overwhelming workload all serve to bring down the legal system to the realm of ineffectiveness, unless you have tons of money to stimulate interest.

[djp2]

76. Good word!

Bork
Borken
Borked

Sounds about right to me!

[defendandprotect]

61. "Justice delayed is justice denied" --

Here we have falsified legal documents being submitted to a Court/Judge ---

and basically we get a blank stare in response!

[Laelth]

66. Amen.

I hate it when Judges do that. If we could work it out for ourselves, we wouldn't be in court. Judges who lack spines need to get off the bench. They're up there to make a call. They need to do their jobs.

-Laelth

[LiberalFighter]

68. Wasn't it apparent by my post that I didn't agree with court having

the parties work this out between them in this case?

[HowHasItComeToThis]

72. BINGO CITIZEN

[ohtransplant]

5. I'm Shocked...Who would think of such a thing?

Imagine our surprise...

"What he has pointed out is news to me," said Langdon. "There has been no effort on our part to be anything other than absolutely truthful."

I don't really care whether it's sloppiness or subterfuge. This is a high stakes game and Normie should lose credibility with the court as a result.

[mascarax]

50. Oh yeah, that's Normie - "absolutely truthful"

Also am behind AlbertCat's comments!
This needs to end soon. And they aren't going to be able to just "work it out themselves".
Sheesh.

[liberal N proud]

6. Coleman needs to hang it up and maybe he can move to

Crawford and live in the brush along with that other snake bu$h

[sasquatch]

7. Will somebody please settle this bullshit before it gets way out of hand

[acmavm]

24. I think that ship sailed a while back.

[No Elephants]

78. IMO, it's been out of hand ever since the recount finsihed.

[global1]

8. Why Is It That When MSM Refers To Franken They Say......

Comedian Al Franken?

When Al becomes a Senator are they going to say Senator Comedian Al Franken?

[John Q. Citizen]

10. They could say humorist Al Franken

[LisaM]

18. Were you here years back when someone had a very funny thread going

about Kennedy Cousin Michael Skakel, asking why someone would name their child "Kennedy Cousin"?

[bdamomma]

20. the right wing media whores spewing BS again.

[defendandprotect]

63. One night, a radio announcer began a report on Governor Mario Cuomo of NY ---

he then interrupted himself to begin again -- saying, "correction" . . .

"LIBERAL Governor Mario Cuomo...."

The guy was practically hitting us on the head with a brick to make us pay attention

to what he was being forced to do!

[geardaddy]

25. Maybe we should plant the seed

for the MSM to start calling Norm "Comedic dental work model, Norm Coleman"

[McCamy Taylor]

9. Coleman seems to be under the impression that Franken can not afford good lawyers.

[kenny blankenship]

43. On that subject: Franken Needs Your Donations!

If you've been a donor you're probably getting the emails and the calls. If you want them to stop, you know what you have to do. And if you haven't been a donor yet, this is your chance to own a tiny part of Al Franken's soul. participate in his legendary victory.

No pressure, just remember that Paul Wellstone is watching you right now.
https://secure.alfranken.com/page/contribute

[No Elephants]

81. Amen. And Al will send you a very nice postcard, too! Come on. If we could get over a million to

Tinklebell, I mean Tinklenberger, in a couple of days, we can nelp Al. I hope the Democratic Party at the state and national levels will help him, too, as much as they can.


Folks, things like this are why we must give even a tiny bit to the DNC every month or every other month, or at least, every quarter. Five dollars a quarter? YES, YOU CAN.

[MinneapolisMatt]

11. K&R!

FUCK. NORM. COLEMAN.

[4lbs]

12. Republicans doctoring election results? I've never heard of such a thing.

[jhrobbins]

28. AM I just incredibly naive about our Dems, but I have no problem believeing

that Republicans are out there doing whatever it takes to get the office and yet, I cannot see Franken doing that - not Stuart Little.

[geardaddy]

31. Stuart Smalley?

I assume you meant this...



not this...

[jhrobbins]

32. Yeah, I guess I did-my early onset is acting up today.

[Cha]

56. Republicans playing fair and square..

now that would be news.

[SpiralHawk]

13. Typical republicon homelander

No respect for truth, honor, or The American Way.

[BR_Parkway]

21. Or honest elections apparently

[progressoid]

14. "absolutely truthful"

riiiight.

[catgirl]

15. He's lying about being truthful! Too funny

[SoCalDem]

54. Hey.. it worked for OJ....for a while

until he met up with a Las vegas judge

[NBachers]

69. Don't think the big cat doesn't know exactly what's happening

That little twitch at the end of the tail is calculated to produce just the result he (or she) wants. Just like jiggling a worm in front of a fish.

[Politicalboi]

16. Where were these judges

In Florida 2000? We could have used them.

[Eric J in MN]

19. The Florida court system ordered a recount. It was the US Supreme Court which stopped the recount.

NT

[gulfcoastliberal]

17. I'm shocked, I tell ya. K&R nt

[vinylsolution]

22. Expect Republicans to play fair?

Not a chance.

[eyepaddle]

23. K'ed & f'in R'ed

Now I need to check out the StarTribune's website to see what RipAnderson and Tacklebury18 have to say about this.

[geardaddy]

26. Ugh. I hate those two.

It's sad that I even know those names.

[eyepaddle]

27. Somebody once pointed out the 3 main commonalities amongst the right wingers at the Strib:

1) Angry
2) Stupid
3) Delusional

That totally sums up tacklebury

[Divine Discontent]

42. Well, c'mon, they can't go by Norm & Laurie Coleman, now can they? Too obvious. eom

[Unca Jim]

51. Hilarious!

I felt the same way!

I wonder who pays those knobs?

[whistle]

29. Evidence tampering is a criminal offense

[No Elephants]

80. Seriously. What is up with telling Franken and Coleman to settle a crime between themselves? nt

[Botany]

36. Oh that will sit well with the court .... doctor the evidence

as noted up thread;

"Langdon speculated that there may have been a photocopying problem."



This might give the case to Franken in a walk ..... no judge is going to put up
w/ that crap.

l guess Al's book might have been about Norm's legal team.

[Grinchie]

47. Only if it was entered as evidence...

This was not made clear in the story. It could possibly that this was preliminary discovery, where Franken requested "Any and all records supporting Colemans complaint". So, this could simply be a document dump/copies of the files held by Colemans team.

However, if indeed the altered document was entered into evidence, it would most likely have to be the original.

In any event, when people think of evidence, I believe there is a limitation on the number of pieces that may be used, mostly so the court is overwhelmed with copious amounts of redundant material. The key issue is that one must be highly selective about what you present as evidence, and although all of it might be relevant, some should be filtered out so you have room to present more to the courts as it is discovered through ongoing discovery and investigation.

The legal system is so complex, that it provides numerous ways to accomplish just about anything, and in this case, just provide more doubt and provide a delay tactic for whatever side.

Lawyers are a proxy for their client, and are bound by the current legal system to always work on behalf of their client. That means that they are prohibited from divulging facts or opinions that are harmful to their client. Altering evidence presented on discovery is poor sportsmanship, and I hope that Coleman gets a blacker set of eyes from this indiscretion on part of his obviously aggressive legal team. (Read very expensive)

[Botany]

74. I have never met a lawyer who doesn't thinks that they can make a case ...

.... that water is not wet and it does not get dark @ night.

Coleman's legal beagle saying it could have been a photocopy error is
way over the top.

From what I read the court told both sides to sort this out on their own
before coming back into court.

[santamargarita]

37. Goddamn GOP shitbag - get out of our country!

Between this asshole and that other right-wing turd holding Senate confirmation, I like to throw the whole bunch out! They hate America, so get out.

[jimlup]

40. Its time for these *&*&@^!$@ to be shut down

This needs to be over. I wish the court would put Coleman out of his misery and shut him down.

The seat belongs to Franken and Coleman is showing that he is nothing but an obstructionist.

[Grinchie]

41. Kind of destroys the evidence chain does it not?

Truly a desperate act that will sink Coleman's case to Davy Jone's Locker.

How can anybody be so stupid, unless they actually believe that nobody would notice, which is sadly the case in most Litigations.

[jmowreader]

45. Come on. Sentence Coleman to one night of rehabilitation and be done with it...

[The Backlash Cometh]

46. Franken gets it.

You can't trust these fucking fuckers.

[damntexdem]

48. Coleman may dig himself a deep, deep hole, man.

Sounds like he's straying way too far from the norms.

[humbled_opinion]

49. ENOUGH ALREADY

Sit the winning Senator.

[DFW]

53. Coleman will recite the "Mission Impossible" tape before he self-destructs:

"As always, if any of my legal or campaign staff is caught committing a felony, the ex-Senator will disavow any knowledge of their actions........"

[annabanana]

55. James Langdon is shocked. . SHOCKED!..

[Swede Atlanta]

57. News to me? WTF?

Yeah right....this is news to him? As the attorney he is accountable for all aspects of the evidence he is planning to present including its nature, chain-of-custody, etc. He knows full well this is cooked evidence to maintain the seat for Criminal Coleman. Off with their heads...no trial

[lenegal]

62. Is the Coleman Campaign using the Bush WH Photocopiers?

Just asking.

[Hulk]

64. "Cheating" is a repug/fascist party pastime.

It's what they do. Twist truth, make up bull shit to promote their greedy ends, cheating to win by ANY means possible...it's all in their book.

If we haven't learned that by now, I don't think we ever will.

[cascadiance]

65. Hey Norm, go back to making ice chests!

With hell freezing over for all of your right wing buddies now, there should be a good market for a "Coleman" there...

[kestrel91316]

67. Somebody needs to have a talk with the DA or US Atty about

perjury or fraud charges against SOMEBODY.

[Enrique]

70. to be fair to Coleman

he probably didn't know the Franken camp had made copies.

[wroberts189]

73. BUSTED !!!!!!!! eom K&R hahahhahah

[Cleita]

75. So when are Minnesotans going to take to the streets and bang the pots

and pans in front of Coleman's headquarters telling him to concede and step aside? A little angry mob action might do the trick. Or how about stacking shoes in front of the offices?

[minnesota_liberal]

77. Hard to believe

Coleman's "fishing expedition" lawsuit includes allegations of votes wrongly given to challenger Al Franken. Their "evidence" is a handful of Franken ballots where voter intent is difficult to determine when looking at just the Senate race portion. While the state Canvassing Board used entire ballots in order to determine voter intent, Coleman's team of legal eagles conveniently points to just the Senate race portion.

I can't believe that such people would intentionally alter evidence that would otherwise undermine their argument.

[tom_paine]

79. If this is true, and it almost certainly is given repetetive Bushie M.O., then PROSECUTE.

Fucking PROSECUTE!

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/franken-lega...

Show these motherfuckers some CONSEQUENCES or they will NEVER stop of their own accord.

Plus, they are getting so shameless and open in their criminality, because we KEEP DECLINING to PROSECUTE!

That's what it comes down to, just like when the German Social Democrats faced off against the Nazis, and like our Democrats have been so far, unequal to the task.

Do we have the GUTS to prosecute these fuckers FOR THE CRIMES THEY ARE GUILTY OF?

Investigate these very serious allegations If they are untrue, announce it to the public, clear the Jewish-NaziBushie Coleman's name, and finish the trial.

But this is TOO MUCH TO LET GO! NOT AGAIN!

BUST THEM RED-HANDED AND SEND THEM TO JAIL...even if it is just Club Fed, we need to give them CONSEQUENCES..NOW!

[happygoluckytoyou]

82. "OH MY GOD!" (look of surprize!) WHO COULD HAVE DONE THAT!!!