Siegelman Responds to Federal Prosecutors: "Court Said Jurors Free to Conspire by E-Mail"

[Hissyspit]

Source: Locust Fork News-Journal

Siegelman Responds to Federal Prosecutors
July 28th, 2009

Federal prosecutors in Montgomery filed their response this week to Alabama Governor Don Siegelman’s and HealthSouth founder Richard Scrushy’s motion for a new trial, and their demands for recusal of Chief U.S. District Justice Mark E. Fuller.

It is boilerplate legalese that basically says they do not deserve a new trial and the judge should not recuse himself.

Siegelman reacted immediately to the news:

“I am shocked by the contentions of the United States Government’s response to the motion for the judge to recuse himself from all other proceedings in this case,” Siegelman said in an e-mail message. The government farcically argues that the trial judge and 11th Circuit decided in my case that the system operated fairly for me because the trial judge assumed that the emails from Juror No. 7 and Juror No. 40 were ‘authentic’.” he said. “So when he denied our motion for a new trial, based on those emails, both courts said that it’s OK for Jurors to be emailing each other before the close of the government’s case, OK to be in a a conspiracy to subvert the defendant’s constitutional right to a fair trial.”

- snip -

“The emails revealed a deep hidden prejudice against both me and Richard Scrushy and just as important, the emails showed that the jurors were violating the order of the Court and plotting to get other jurors to vote for a conviction,” Siegelman said. “How in the world can anyone have respect for a system of justice if this kind of conduct is given a stamp of approval by a trial Judge and a court of appeals?"

Read more: http://blog.locustfork.net/2009/07/28/siegelman-responds-to-federal-prosecutors/

---

See Previous Post: Legal Schnauzer - Why Did The 11th Circuit Court Cheat Don Seigelman? Here Is My Guess...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6151660

Also, From Nov. 2008: Explosive New Story Lends Credence to Siegelman Appeal; New Reporting May Show Bush Was ‘In the Loop’

http://blog.locustfork.net/2008/11/14/explosive-new-story-lends-credence-to-siegelman-appeal

[barbtries]

1. justice

for don siegelman. i know there are so many people destroyed by the bushies, but don siegelman's story resonates for me. i can't even begin to imagine the level of his frustration.

[SpiralHawk]

2. "I'm like totally into the loopy thingy. Smirk." - xCommander AWOL (R)

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. This case gets curiouser and curiouser.

[Stevepol]

4. What an insane injustice system we have.

[paulsby]

12. it's the worst out there

except for all the other ones.

[ProudDad]

51. Wrong, wrong, wrong!!!

USAmerika has one of the WORST criminal-injustice systems in the civilized world.

If you want to compare the USAmerikan crime and criminal factory (and that's not counting the judges, DAs and cops) to China, Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia, you would still be only half right.

But compared to civilized countries, you're WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.

By every measure - cost, number of incarcerated, recidivism rates, crime rates -- USAMERIKA LOSES!!!

[paulsby]

56. this is 2010

if you are still stuck in the rhetoric of discredited ninnies from the past who refer to america, with a "K", you have no argument.

it's ridiculous

[L. Coyote]

17. Not the least bit insane. Just totally corrupt all the way to the top.

I said it as soon as the Bush Junta stole 2000.

"Any and every judicial appointment and any judgment to follow will now be suspect of illegitimacy. Every law signed will be suspect of being non-democratic."

When they stole Siegelman's election in 2002 and nothing could be done about it, the depth of the corruption was fully revealed.
Nothing has changed since then, and Obama is keeping the Bush crew on board! The depth of the corruption is again fully revealed.

[MSC2007]

29. L. I have notice in my situation that justice needs finality,

its like walking out of the store with your pockets full. Now they are out of the store! The crime is complete now, see if things don't start changing for the better. Obama and Holder have a constitution way about them. Be patient, I did for 8 years and now things seem to be changing http://www.medicalsupplychain.com/news.htm. Regards~

[24601]

45. Just ask Uncle Bernie Madoff, recently framed & jailed! n/t

[peacetalksforall]

53. When they got away with assassinataing JFK MLK RFK it exploded.

The core to it all is domination of ALL the earth resources and people. Keep them submissive. Our justice system is roteen everywhere the hand of these people has had success in installing their own. Fight 'em. Expose them. Use the justice system wherever it is still honest.

Obama is on his way out if he doesn't have a plan for honoring the little people.

[TheMadMonk]

21. The best money can buy. nt

[valerief]

25. Yeah, take out the justice and that's our system. nt

[LiberalFighter]

5. The judge and prosecutors need to be impeached, removed from office, sent to prison,

and executed. Sorry, but I'm of the opinion that a message needs to be sent to these people not to disobey the law.

Also, find Rove and nuke the guy.

[cosmicone]

7. I am opposed to nuking Rove

He should be buried deep inside Mariana's trench.

Any explosion would cause putrid fallout over most of the earth's surface, making it inhabitable for decades.

[LiberalFighter]

39. Do it at Bush's ranch

[cosmicone]

6. "The change we were duped to believe in"

Why is Eric Holder's DOJ fighting a motion for a new trial?

[Dinger]

8. Damn Good Question (nt)

[The Wizard]

13. As long as Seigelman remains free

it might be a good idea to keep this alive to expose the unclean hands.

[L. Coyote]

18. Barack Obama (later a Sidley Austin intern) at Bradford Berenson’s apartment

FROM: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=printer_friendly&forum=385&topic_id=316260&mesg_id=316268

Bradford Berenson, Sidley Austin Partner, former WH attorney, Bush criminals defender
Posted by L. Coyote on Sun May-24-09 07:43 AM

Bradford Berenson, associate counsel under Gonzales at White House.



Barack Obama (later a Sidley Austin intern) at Bradford Berenson’s apartment,
where he watched the 1990 election returns.

........................

[TheMadMonk]

23. For a very good and very, very wrong reason.

Possibly the same reason, Obama left so many of Bush's appointees in place.

The size of the can of worms that stands to be opened.

The Siegelman case is just the tip of a very, very large iceberg of corruption. One I suspect that is big enough and goes deep enough to quite probably bring down the US government and judicial system in their entirety if exposed.

AND IF we're lucky.

Another even less preferable outcome would be a nationwide right wing insurrection against what they would perceive/claim to be partisian attacks, no matter how solidly each individual case were proven.


I am starting to be very, very afraid that there is no solution to the problem that is America today, short of a Soviet scale collapse. And I strongly susspect that at least in part the Democrat strategy is to hold things together, while being seen to be trying to "fix" things, long enough for that collapse to happen under a Republican regime. And it may well be the Republican strategy with their blatant and apparently suicidal obsdtructionism, is to keep themselves out of power long enough for that collapse to occur under the Democrats.

[Vidar]

28. Unfortunately, not at all implausible.

[Enthusiast]

43. I agree,

it's not at all implausible. The GOP tries to generate fear, they have succeeded with me. But it is them I fear, not some terrorist or socialist president.

[gopiscrap]

27. It's partly about money now

If the DOJ loses this, Siegelman can sue the shit out of the Feds

[cosmicone]

40. The DOJ and Siegelman can easily settle this

by holding each other harmless and dropping the charges.

[gopiscrap]

54. Yes, I know that but...

if I was Siegelman I wouldn't do that...I would sue the living mother fuck out of the government

[myrna minx]

9. K&R n.t

[Kingofalldems]

10. Freeper jurors maybe?

[pleah]

11. K&R

[ro1942]

14. bushs prosecutors

why has obama not replaced them? is it to protect bush & rove?

[defendandprotect]

31. New presidents are entitled to replace ALL of them . . . but they tend to do it slowly . . .

OBAMA invited them all to stay . . . presume permanently????

And 51 did stay!!!

Was there anything more important than to CHANGE the DOJ?????

Siegleman is right . . . decisions like this destroy any confidence

anyone could have in our DOJ -- the entire system -- and those keeping

it in place!!!

These judges and prosecutors should go--

[Peace Patriot]

15. As with government secrecy, domestic spying, indefinite detention without trial,

retention of Guantanamo and military tribunals, executive signing statements (the president writing his own laws), failure to prosecute the Bush Junta principles for a mind-boggling list of crimes including all of the above and more--torturing prisoners, massive theft, slaughtering a hundred thousand people to get their oil, stealing elections--failure to rid our election system of 'TRADE SECRET' programming code owned and controlled by rightwing corporations, continuing the Forever War, bombing of Afghan civilians, selling weapons and nuclear technology around the world, building five US military bases in Colombia--whose government and military have one of the worst human rights records on earth, and continuing to demonize the Latin American countries that do have democracy and respect for human and civil rights--and, finally, with regard to Seigelman, defending political persecution through the so-called justice system, the Obama administration apparently wants to retain all the corpo/fascist advances against democracy made under the Bush Junta. That's what their actions say.

I continue to hope, as many do, that Obama himself is a progressive, and seeks social justice, peace and the rightful order of things in a democracy--the sovereignty of the people. Personally, I think his hands are tied by deals he made to become president, with Obama probably thinking that he could do more good in the White House than not in it. A deal for immunity of the Bush Junta principles that insiders made with Bush/Cheney--to stop them from nuking Iran, and to get them to agree to leave the White House when the time came--and that Obama had to agree to honor, to be permitted into the White House. A deal with the DLC and Clintons--carte blanche to continue "neoliberal" policy at home and abroad, and massive war profiteering. He is beholden to powers that were not elected. Was he even elected? He can't prove it. The proof is not there. I believe that he was, but I can't prove it either. Our election system has been rendered completely non-transparent. It's not only run by money and media--the counting of the votes can no longer be seen or verified. I think he was elected actually by a much bigger majority than the media and the voting machine corporations reported. I think his mandate was shaved, to curtail reform. There is inferential evidence that this is true, but it can never be established for certain.

That is fascism. Corporations choose the leaders behind the curtain.

The 'TRADE SECRET' code, with virtually no audit/recount controls, infused into our voting system during the 2002 to 2004 period, is the awesomely undemocratic, new power that the Dark Lords now have to hold over presidential and other candidates, to extract promises of no reform--no return to constitutional order, no social justice, no peaceful world, and no undoing of the criminal assertions of government power made by the Junta on behalf of US-based and other global corporate predators.

And if you look at what is visible in the Obama administration, that is what we got. We voted for reform. We got a president who cannot implement any significant reform, and a Congress--also vetted by Diebold and brethren--which hampers even incremental and minor reforms.

Only by intense pressure, by inhuman effort, by life-consuming struggle can we hope to get even one injustice reversed--say, this one, the obvious political persecution of Don Seigelman--and even then it's nearly impossible. Democracy shouldn't be so hard. Democracy, if we had one, should be easy--with transparent rules, laws and rights that are obvious to all. Instead our country has become a murky, Byzantine, dangerous place, that is fetid with corruption. And the only thing Obama seems to have done is to put a nicer face on it. He may intend better. I still think he does. But neither he nor anyone else will ever be able to correct these vast and criminal wrongs until we, the people, get our power back, starting with transparent vote counting.

[loudsue]

46. So glad to hear you weigh in on this Peace Patriot! And you are so spot on...

The most disheartening thing I have had to face in the past 2 years is the awful reality that it wasn't just the republicans screwing things up so irreversibly. After the Dems took congress 2 years ago, even by the slightest majority, I really thought we might start seeing prosecutions for the REAL, unimagined terrors that had actually befallen this country in the past few years. The reality dawned on me slowly and bitterly, as the dem's excuses for inaction became more & more unbelievable as time went on.

Obama had such an opportunity. He could have rallied the forces and brought America back, but instead he made Rahm Emmanuel his right hand, and things went down hill from there. Anyone, however, who read Obama's books, KNEW he was a conservative Dem, just like Hillary. The only ones we MIGHT have had a chance with were ridiculed out of the primaries, while the ones TRULY worth ridiculing (McCain/Palin) were actually given the respect of viable candidates. Watching the entire primary process told me that my fears about the new Dem congress were all well founded.

All across the globe right now, it seems the forces of electing government in support of PEOPLE are in opposition to the forces electing government in support of the corporations/mafia. And the corporations are making the voting machines & controlling the elections. We are sooooo screwn. It is so despairing to know that the only remedy to right the situation is pointing to open revolts. People shouldn't have to keep dying and killing for rights and just government, when we all know that we should HAVE those rights and that government that supports the people.

:argh:

[JPZenger]

16. The system was given a chance to correct itself and failed. Time for a Pardon, Barack.

[nolabels]

19. It needs more than a pardon

They need to send troops, a brigade or larger of lawyers to dig into that mountain corruption to see what gives x(

[L. Coyote]

20. A pardon would be a cover-up. Time for some TRUTH and kicking asses.

[MSC2007]

30. Totally Agree!!!

[Iwillnevergiveup]

22. It's time once again

for Governor Don to get back on Thom Hartmann and Rachel. I bet he could use some bucks in his legal defense.

K&R

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

24. I can only Hope Don Siegelman can get Justice

I haven't and I won't. It's just a G--D--- piece of paper! Get used to it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=8723725

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=172&topic_id=22722


:redbox: :tv:

[DirtyDawg]

26. Dammit Obama...

...get your damn justice (sic) department in gear and get this man the hell out of there - by that I mean run the damn prosecutors out of town and get Siegelman a new trial, or better yet, pardon him and let's get on with 'doing the right thing'...you're losin' me man. Your willingness to compromise with tyranny is disheartening.

[defendandprotect]

32. This is unbelievable . . .!!! How do other Democrats not feel threatened . .. ???

Or did they AVOID similar treatment from Bush/Cheney/Rove by keeping their heads

very, very low???

“How in the world can anyone have respect for a system of justice if this kind of conduct is given a stamp of approval by a trial Judge and a court of appeals?"

Siegelman is someone who should be in government, should be a leader of our party.

Are any of the corporate press fighting for justice for Siegelman . . . ???

NY Times . . . anyone???

Obviously, one of the most important changes that should have been made was in the DOJ --

made political/criminal by Bushco.

I'll try some e-mail to Obama and my Senators/Rep --

[L. Coyote]

33. U: “How in the world can anyone have respect for a system of justice ..."

Simple, from a distance. But when they come to get you, then you know the truth.

Creeping Fascism, as usual. First the came for the .....

[defendandprotect]

35. From a distance, I can feel the frustration and can't imagine how this family

-- and the former Governor -- are possibly standing up to this pressure and

continuing injustice....

and Bush/Cheney/Rove/Rumsfeld are all free and probably making plans for new

destruction of Constitution, democracy!

ugh!

[sabrina 1]

34. The judge refused because the emails

'were authentic'!! That was the point, wasn't it? I think this case needs to go all the way to the USSC.

If this is allowed, jurors plotting against a defendent, it is blatantly corrupt and it is more than time for the DOJ to step in. This was clearly a political prosecution. I do not know what they are waiting for.

[Divine Discontent]

36. agreed - hasn't the DOJ heard enough now? politically assigned jurists plotting to get the entire

jury to convict him? wow... talk about improper!


SIEGELMAN NEEDS EXONERATED, MR PRESIDENT!

[Seldona]

47. It isn't even a very smart strategy on their part.

There are far more of us than there are of them. They would lose in a scenario like this through simple attrition.

[RandomThoughts]

37. It seems he was prosecuted for political reasons.

And from news reports what he was prosecuted for does not seem to be different that is done in many other places where there are not prosecutions.

New Evidence In Siegelman Case Points To Republican Cabal
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/13/new-evidence-in-siegelman_n_91186.html



CBS: More Prosecutorial Misconduct in Siegelman Case
http://www.harpers.org/archive/2008/02/hbc-90002487
Even the news article about his trial was blocked in his home state by being blacked out when broadcast on TV.

The CBS piece, for which I was repeatedly interviewed, came through on its promise to deliver several additional bombshells. The most significant of these was the disclosure that prosecutors pushed the case forward and secured a conviction relying on evidence that they knew or should have known was false, and that they failed to turnover potentially exculpatory evidence to defense counsel. The accusation was dramatically reinforced by the Justice Department’s failure to offer a denial. It delivered a fairly elaborate version of a “no comment,” and even that came a full twenty-four hours after it had conferred with the prosecutors in question. The gravity of the accusations made and the prosecutors’ failure to deny them further escalates concerns about the treatment of the former Alabama governor.


If he is guilty then either all people that do the same thing need to be prosecuted equally with same rules, Or if he is innocent all people like him need to be freed from jail.

The fact that his prosecution is not the same as other people means he should be set free or there should be many more prosecutions.


This seems to be connected to Rove's attorney firings also, since he was treating Justice department as a political enforcement wing of the Bush Administration with multiple requests to pursue cases that had no merit from other prosecutors.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

38. why can't jurors email each other?

I mean, at the end of the day, they are the ones deliberating together in the room alone.
As long as emails are private, I'm not sure I see the point in the fuss?

[sabrina 1]

41. Two jurors communicated with each other

If they were emailing everyone as part of a general discussion among the entire jury about the evidence, you might have a point, but I'm not even sure about that. I understood that jurors are meant to deliberate on the evidence presented to them, they are not supposed to make a decision until they've heard all of the evidence. If they are prejudiced against a defendent for any reason, political maybe, they should recuse themselves. They are meant to be impartial. And they are generally told not to discuss the trial outside of the jury room.

Here is what was discovered about those two jurors. Would you think this is okay if it was your life being placed in the hands of a jury?

“The emails revealed a deep hidden prejudice against both me and Richard Scrushy and just as important, the emails showed that the jurors were violating the order of the Court and plotting to get other jurors to vote for a conviction,” Siegelman said. “How in the world can anyone have respect for a system of justice if this kind of conduct is given a stamp of approval by a trial Judge and a court of appeals?

“According to the United States government these courts have just said that jurors are now free to conspire by email or text messaging during the course of a trial and are free to conspire with one another to try to get votes for a conviction even before the evidence and witnesses have been heard,”:

I will say that considering the judge in this case, nothing should surprise anyone. I'm not sure what you know about the trial judge. But in any normal situation, he would not even be on the bench.

And who are these Federal Prosecutors? Isn't this Holder's DOJ now, no longer Gonzales/Bush/Rove? It doesn't seem to have made much difference so far. Stevens' case was deemed worthy of the attention of Holder (I did agree that his trial was corrupt however, even if he was guilty but so is this one) But a case as blatantly tainted as this is being ignored. It might as well be two years ago.

[Subdivisions]

42. ATTENTION: Siegelman will be a guest tomorrow...

A fellow DUer is the producer of the Sam Greenfield Show on WVNJ-AM. She has informed me that Don Siegelman will be Sam's guest tomorrow morning at 8:20am ET. He is sure to talk about this. Just go to http://www.wvnj.com and click on the Listen Live link at the scheduled time.

[Hissyspit]

49. Thanks! Will tune in if I'm up.

[winyanstaz]

44. Why isnt Siegelman out of prison and these crooked people in?

Hello Obama? Hello? Can you like maybe do something here?

[MasonJar]

48. Two guilty as hell GOpers (Stevens and that idiot who stopped dem

phones on election day) are excused; a truly framed man Seigelmann is not given a new trial. I am sorry but this is not CHANGE I voted for. And it is inexcusable to let Rove et al ruin this man's life and career. It proves to me that the wiretapping worked and that The Bushista has something big on Obama. He will not even investigate their monumental crimes, much less punish them. And worse still, he will not fire the Rovian buddies in Alabama and demand a new trial for the Democratic ex-governor. I am so disappointed in Obama. He talked a good game getting himself elected. What do these politicians chew? If he got support for those policies running, why would he doubt support when he won on them? Only two things make sense: Obama is either being blackmailed by Rove and his malicious team of wiretappers or he is just a lying sack of DLC offal. Either answer is irrelevant for the USA citizens who believed obama's campaign jargon was sincere.

[midnight]

50. To allow a "real trial" to occur now would mean Karl would

have to talk under oath.

[avaistheone1]

52. Is Obama and Eric Holder ever going to come to Siegelman's rescue?

I am really getting infuriated at both Obama and Holder. Why the hell are they not taking action and protecting Siegelman?

I am so disgusted by this.

[No Elephants]

55. On the bright side, charges against Stevens were dropped.

:sarcasm:

[L. Coyote]

57. Ever so quickly, as if it was the top priority of the Obama Presidency.

Albeit, the wheels of Justice were at work forcing their hand. Nonetheless, this does not sit well.

Meanwhile, what is up with the investigation of Rep. Don Young? Did the whole Cooked and Baked Alaska get put in deep freeze, or was it sent down a series of tubes with a dump truck?

[L. Coyote]

58. Judge Clemon disclosed that he had appealed directly to Attorney General Eric Holder to intervene ..

Judge Clemon disclosed that he had appealed directly to Attorney General Eric Holder to intervene in the case, review the serious misconduct allegations against the prosecution team, and take appropriate action. Clemon advises me that Holder responded to his letter promising to look into the matter, but there is no evidence yet of any action on the part of the attorney general.

But whereas the Stevens case was under the supervision of a judge who looked skeptically into prosecutors’ conduct, the prosecutors in the Siegelman case seem to have found just the judge they wanted. At the time that the public integrity prosecutors were maneuvering to get their case before Judge Fuller, prosecutor Welch had a 36-page affidavit by an attorney laying out detailed claims of misconduct against Fuller for Welch to investigate, a fact which was unknown to Siegelman and his attorneys. In its papers, the government vehemently objects to a new judge, opposes an evidentiary hearing, and also suggests that both the district court and court of appeals considered the defense’s claims of jury tampering and jury misconduct to be harmless. The arguments are clearly designed to head off any serious investigation of the prosecutorial misconduct accusations, particularly the sort of investigation which has now been launched in the Stevens case.


FROM:
http://harpers.org/archive/2009/07/hbc-90005444
July 30, 2:58 PM, 2009 · No Comment
Prosecutors Under the Loupe
By Scott Horton

A further development in the reversal-of-fortune prosecution of former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens ..........