General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe four questions the Manafort jury asked the judge today....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/jury-begins-deliberations-in-paul-manaforts-tax--and-bank-fraud-trial/2018/08/16/d2b0f486-a170-11e8-8e87-c869fe70a721_story.html?utm_term=.ad59042f96411. if someone was required to file a form called an FBAR which is required of people with foreign bank accounts containing more than $10,000 if they owned less than 50 percent of such an account and did not have signature authority but did have the ability to direct disbursement. At trial, Manaforts lawyers suggested their client might have believed he did not have to file such forms, because the companies in question were set up under his consulting firm. After 2011, he shared ownership of the firm equally with his wife. (The Judge said that along with the requirement for people who own more than 50 percent of a company with foreign bank accounts, a person must file FBARs if he controls the disposition of money, funds, or other assets held in a financial account by direct communications.)
2. if the judge could define shelf company and the filing requirements related to income. Witnesses testified at Manaforts trial that he used so-called shelf companies companies previously created by a lawyer in Cyprus that could be used to control the bank accounts in question in order to move Manaforts money. To that question, the judge said the jury would have to rely on their memory of the evidence presented at trial.
3. if the judge could redefine reasonable doubt. Jurors sometimes struggle with what constitutes a reasonable doubt of someones guilt, versus an unreasonable doubt. The judge told them reasonable doubt is a doubt based on reason, but added: The government is not required to prove guilt beyond all possible doubt.
4. if they could have an updated exhibit list, connecting each piece of evidence to the corresponding charge in the indictment. The judge said they would have to rely on their collective memory to link exhibits to specific charges.
The article says the defense attorney was happy about this. IMO, it's not good if they need a redefinition of reasonable doubt. Then again, it may mean nothing other than clarification, so they know going into the deliberations.
If they're having trouble matching the evidence to the charges, it could take them a while. It could also mean they don't understand all the evidence. This is complicated stuff.
RealNewzFakePrez
(75 posts)and surprise the jury got confused
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)it may as well not exist.
You mean the attorneys were not allowed to present Exhibit X during a witness's testimony and question the witness about it?
bitterross
(4,066 posts)This is an excellent point. One I'm happy to see the judge pointed out to the jury. One most people likely get wrong. Most people probably think the procescution has to remove ALL doubt to prove its case. It doesn't.
lindysalsagal
(20,638 posts)And it ain't no jury of my peers....
Princess Turandot
(4,787 posts)The shelf companies came up in the trial. They're companies that are established as any other company would be, but they have no activity whatsoever once created, other than filing periodic documents as required by the local authorities. They've been 'put on the shelf', so to speak. Since they are literally dormant, if someone needs a new company to handle something in a hurry, a shelf account can be purchased from whomever has control of it, dusted off quickly and re-purposed. I think Manafort was using shelf companies established by a law firm in Cyprus.
Shell companies don't actually engage in any kind of ongoing business operations. They can hold assets for other parties, however, and then transfer them out to other entities. If they were created with bad intent, often in small island nations with loose oversight, they tend to be way-stations for money going on the grand tour of the international banking system, in an effort to mask its origins.
Dem_4_Life
(1,765 posts)Roland99
(53,342 posts)Allows them to establish and maintain residency
lindysalsagal
(20,638 posts)Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)Wikipedia
Princess Turandot
(4,787 posts)They asked for clarification as to whether the 50% rule set in stone, no matter what had been done with those accounts. It's not surprising that they did so, since his attorneys were stressing that point.
My guess is that they saw the transfer of half-ownership as a fig-leaf, enabling Manafort to get around the IRS requirements on a technicality. (It might not have been so obvious if his wife hadn't been the other party ) The judge's response was that functional control of the accounts meant that he needed to report them. (I think the shelf company question may have been related to the FBAR question as well.)
Asking about reasonable doubt can go both ways. I think it's possible that they were asking for assurance that they did not need to satisfy themselves on every wild-ass but-what-if they could conjure up.
No questions directly about the tax charges or bank fraud, though. We'll know soon enough.
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)I saw it as just clarifying the rule. Although it's the case that Manafort set up his wife as owner, so he'd be less than 50% owner technically, the jury nonetheless considers that he owned less than 50% of the company. If he owned less than 50%, he didn't have control of the account, so those laws didn't apply to him. It could be that the jury was assuming the laws didn't apply to Manafort, or maybe one juror was looking for justification for thinking that.
If they can't have a rundown of evidence matched to charges, they might have to go through witness testimony, looking for references to evidence, and that could take a while. Although there weren't many witnesses, there were probably a lot of evidentiary documents. If there are a couple of not too bright jurors, they won't be able to understand this case. This is really complicated stuff, and the fraud system is complicated & confusing.
lostnfound
(16,169 posts)Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)I got out of high school knowing nothing about the basics of finance & budgeting and the costs of things....the basics of life.
BSdetect
(8,998 posts)He's set up a legal minefield for manafort's lawyers to drag through for potential appeals. Lets hope they blow themselves up in there.
kcr
(15,315 posts)It would explain his answer, too. Judges who ban it think jurors should rely on their memory because taking notes is distracting, and they think it makes jurors note some evidence with more importance than it deserves. It's ridiculous because many modern court cases are so complex with massive amounts of detailed evidence. Making jurors attempt to commit all of that to memory doesn't serve justice.