Jun 27 2007
Time To ‘Nifong’ Ronnie Earle
Mac Ranger has the great news out of Texas that another power-abusing prosecutor has lost his bid to harrass a law abiding citizen. I am with Mac – time to do a ‘Nifong’ on Ronnie Earl. After that we move onto Patrick Fitzgerald and Comey who jailed journalists even though THEY KNEW who had committed the act he was charged with investigating.
Only in the delusional world of Republicans would the news that the trial against Tom DeLay on a serious felony charge will now begin be taken as a victory.
The conspiracy is out – but the underlying money laudering charge can now be prosecuted, and DeLay convicted and sent to the Texas prison now awaiting him.
In other new Libby’s attorneys filed their rebuttal to the DC appeals court for the release during waiting for appeal and the consensus over at JustOneMinute is they slammed Fitz and Walton so hard it’s gonna take a week or two for them to recover.
As one highly qualified lawyer over there (other than Clarice) said if they don’t let Libby out on bail, then the justice system has failed.
That is not partisan hoping, it is from a strictly legal interpretation of the issues raised.
Excellent news! I would like to see him run again and get back into congress.
Sooth
As usual you got it wrong.
The 3rd district court of appeals is yet to review the charge you talk about and it is also based on the same law that was enacted AFTER the alleged crime.
Get out of the spin zone.
From Tom Delay’s own blog.
“The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals today ruled that I was wrongfully indicted by Ronnie Earle, the Mike Nifong of Texas, on laws that didn’t even exist. The court affirmed the decision to throw out the conspiracy indictments because they were based on laws that weren’t even on the books. What Ronnie Earle accomplished is no rookie error – it’s a political attack using our legal system as the primary weapon.
“Ronnie Earle’s politically motivated indictments cost Republicans the leader of their choice, and my family hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees. The damage he has done to my family and my career cannot be rectified, but the courts have recognized a significant portion of the injustice and ruled accordingly. For nearly two years I have been willing and eager to go to trial and with this ruling, we are thankfully closer to that day.
“Ronnie Earle may think this case is about campaign finance, but in the end it will be a case about his own prosecutorial misconduct.â€
Total, unmitigated BULLS***. Highly qualified my rear end. Libby will not get bail, and he will serve time.
They offered Martha Stewart appellate bond (after all, all she did was sell some stock for $43,000.00 – it’s not like she was part of a criminal conspiracy to out a covert CIA agent) – but Martha, having been advised that her appellate chances were slim – decided to get it over with and do the time.
See you in 2 -1/2 years, Scooter!!
As usual, Merlin can’t tall his a** from his elbow in legal matters . . .
the judge in the DeLay case had ruled a grand jury had erred in indicting DeLay for conspiracy when that crime was actually not covered by the state election law when it occurred.
But the same judge also said that a different indictment was worth hearing at trial, alleging in essence that DeLay and his associates illegally injected corporate funds into the 2002 campaign by transferring $190,000 to Republican headquarters in Washington in the expectation that the same total amount would be returned to Texas Republican candidates.
If the state can prove that “these defendants entered into [such] an agreement . . . then they will have established that money was laundered. The money would have become ‘dirty money’ at the point that it began to be held with prohibited intent.”
So with resepct to the future of Tom the Bug Killer DeLay, let me warm up the crystal ball that proved so prescient beofre, during and after the trial and conviction of the traitorous criminal Libby . . . ah yes, the images begin to form . . I see a jury . . . composed of the usual mouth-breathing Texans . . . coming back with a GUILTY verdict for the Bug Man.
And yes!! I see the sawed-off Mr. DeLay in an unflattering black and white striped standard issue Texas penal system jumpsuit.
Au revoir, Monsieur DeLay. If you drop the soap in the shower, don’t bend over to pick it up . . .
Somebody oil that screen door , the unhindges are squeeking.
Merlin, great. ‘the great unhinged’
FE
You have to understand the kid is overcompensating since it is still “seared in his memory” that he lost his grade school three-legged race when he tried to run it with his knees tied together.
And you know, Merlin named himself after the great magickal wizard because his own wand never did seem to work right . . .
I ain’t got much but I’m proud of every pound.
As far as working, I only have praise from the feminine gender, perhaps you are doing it wrong.
I’m sure the toothless hags you run with are appreciative of even meager rations.
I am glad to read of such news. Good for Tom DeLay.
Even if both Ronnie and Tom have the desire to prolong this case, it would behoove all of us that this case be moved forward to completely vindicate Tom DeLay and nifong Ronnie into early retirement.
Two down; one more to go.
Merlin, you got more praises from who know who!
I wonder what Judith Miller would have to say to soothie….
There never was anything to the Delay case except Dimmicrat, “I gotcha” maybe justice will finally be served
The Fitz team is at it again in their closing of the Conrad Black case they told the jury they don’t even need to testimony form their star immunized witness to convict.
In its final statement to the jury Tuesday, the government’s lead attorney in the fraud trial of Conrad Black made an unexpected admission: “Our star witness is not David Radler.”
Assistant U.S. Atty. Eric Sussman even went as far as telling jurors they don’t have to rely on the testimony of Radler, Black’s longtime partner and the highest-ranking insider at Hollinger International Inc. to take the witness stand.
“You do not need to believe a single word David Radler told you to convict each and everyone of these defendants,” Sussman said.
The government’s apparent about-face on Radler was a bizarre twist in the final days of the case against Black, an international media baron accused of looting the company he built from scratch almost 40 years ago, and three co-defendants. The jury is expected to begin deliberations on Wednesday, after Sussman finishes the government’s rebuttal and the judge instructs jurors on the law’s application in the case.
For the prosecution at the end of the trial to distance itself from Radler puzzled observers.
“The conspiracy rises and falls on whether you believe Radler,” said Hugh Totten, a Chicago lawyer who has attended the trial. “There’s no document that shows the conspiracy. It’s oral testimony of Radler pointing the finger at Conrad Black.”
To Soothsayer: I don’t think you understand the nature of the charges, and why the conspiracy to violate election laws charge was so important. Simply put, Conspiracy to Violate Election Laws was the linchpin of the entire case, and without that the entire theory behind all 3 charges collapses . I very much doubt it will ever go to trial, and if it does it will be dismissed on a directed verdict for the defendant.
Money Laundering is covered (for those who wish to look it up) in Sec. 34.02 of the Texas Penal Code. Summarizing, it is a crime to knowingly conceal, transfer, or transport the proceeds of any criminal activity for any purpose. The word “knowingly” makes this a specific intent crime, meaning that the state must prove that the accused KNEW that the money in question was the result of clearly criminal activity. That’s a very high burden for the state to reach, which is why money laundering charges are relatively rare.
Do you see the problem yet? The Court of Criminal Appeals just ruled that the activity in question was not a crime in 2002, the time of the events in question. (that is the specific reason the conspiracy to violate election laws charge was thrown out) Delay has not been charged with actually violating election laws – not even Earle has been able to come up with any evidence of that. Therefore, there is no underlying crime to attach a money laundering charge to, and with no money laundering charges possible there certainly can be no “conspiracy to commit money laundering,” the third charge in this case. You cannot conspire to break a law that does not exist.
The case against Delay is dead, although it may stumble along for awhile like a zombie before it finally falls over. This decision killed it.
one other interesting note (at least to me): for jurisdictional reasons, the Court of Criminal Appeals decision cannot be appealed to any other court, including Federal courts. It’s over.
WWS, this won’t convince sooth-copperhead but great effort and explanation. Thanks for your post!
The judge who ruled at the trial level – and whose ruling the Court of Appeals affirmed – distinguished between the two fact sets – and said:
If the state can prove that “these defendants entered into [such] an agreement . . . then they will have established that money was laundered. The money would have become ‘dirty money’ at the point that it began to be held with prohibited intent.â€
. . . and felt that this charge could proceed. The Bug Man is not out of the woods yet.
No, he is not but others think that this case will be dismissed for the reasons that they provided.
So?