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Judge Alito and White Collar Crime
The nomination of Third Circuit Judge Samuel Alito, Jr., to the Supreme Court is now official, and a very quick check of his opinions while serving on the court of appeals shows that there are no major decisions on white collar crime issues. One of some interest is the decision in United States v. Cohen,…
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The “Dedicated-But-Overworked-Public-Servant” Defense
The initial outlines of I. Lewis Libby’s defense to the five-count indictment emerged shortly after the charges were unveiled when his attorney, Joseph Tate, stated, "Mr. Libby testified to the best of his recollection on all occasions." As Ellen Podgor notes (post here), the defense will emphasize how busy Libby was, and that these were…
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Fitzgerald’s Crew
While high profile prosecutions usually are ascribed to the lead prosecutor (e.g. Ken Starr, Archibald Cox), much of the basic work in investigating and trying a case is done by career prosecutors out of the limelight. The same is true of Special Counsel Patrict Fitzgerald’s office, and Legal Times has an interesting article (available on…
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Scrushy Pleads Not Guilty
It should not come as a surprise that Richard Scrushy entered a not guilty plea to corruption charges contained in an indictment filed in the Middle District of Alabama. Invoking God and country, Scrushy proclaimed that he was "absolutely not guilty," noting that he grew up reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and singing "God Bless…
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Principal Steals From Students
Sometimes you see a case in which you wonder whether people can sink much lower. A principal at an elementary school in Clinton Township, Michigan, entered a guilty plea to embezzling over $400,000 from the school’s child care program and parent-teacher organization over a seven-year period. A press release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office…
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Explaining the Obstruction Charge & Looking At the Defense
Co-Blogger Peter Henning explains the Obstruction of Justice charge here in the Washington Post. And AJC (AP) reports here on the possible defense, which I call "the too busy executive." Actually this might be interesting as Libby probably has an incredible number of telephone calls and meetings – how could he remember them all? …
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Perjury, But Not Quite Perjury – Libby Indictment
It is in chapter 79 of the federal criminal code, in title 18. And chapter 79 is titled perjury. And the indictment clearly states perjury. Not to mention that the prosecutor called it perjury. But was one of Libby’s charges really a perjury charge? The truth of the matter is that 18 USC 1621 is…
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Attorney Charged with Forging Bankruptcy Judge’s Signature
When I teach Professional Responsibility, one of the topics I don’t cover is forging the signature of a judge, on the supposition that students know that’s not proper. Despite the obvious stupidity of even thinking about trying such a thing, John Eleazarian, an attorney in Fresno, California, was charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for…
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The Libby Indictment
The indictment of I. Lewis Libby, now the former chief of staff to Vice-President Cheney, is available here. The five-count indictment primarily involves Libby’s testimony regarding his interactions with Time reporter Matthew Cooper and NBC news personality Tim Russert, both of whom Libby told the FBI and grand jury were the source of his information…
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Libby Indicted
MSNBC reports here that "Scooter" Libby has been indicted by the special prosecutor. Five counts – one obstruction of justice, 2 counts of false statements, and 2 counts of perjury. (see CNN here) More to come. . . (esp)
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