NYT/AP: Libby Judge Wants Jury to Clarify Note (about reasonable doubt)

[DeepModem Mom]

Libby Judge Wants Jury to Clarify Note
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 5, 2007

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal judge said he'd ask jurors to clarify their question about reasonable doubt Monday as deliberations continued in the trial of former White House aide I. Lewis ''Scooter'' Libby.

Libby is accused of lying about how he learned the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame and whom he discussed it with in 2003. Libby says any inaccuracies in his statements were the result of his faulty memory.

Jurors have been deliberating since Feb. 22. As they left for the weekend Friday, they passed U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton a note.

''We would like clarification of the term 'reasonable doubt,''' jurors wrote. ''Specifically, is it necessary for the government to present evidence that it is not humanly possible for someone not to recall an event in order to find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.''

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said jurors were asking whether the government was required to prove guilt beyond all doubt. He said the answer simply should be ''No.'' But Walton said he wasn't sure that's what jurors were asking. Libby's attorneys said if something is humanly possible, it is reasonable.

''Humanly possible is just a nebulous term,'' Walton said. ''They might be asking whether the government has to prove guilt beyond all doubt. I don't know.''...

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-CIA-Leak-Trial.html?hp

[Epiphany4z]

1. gaaaaaaaaaaawd I wish

they would finish already. OK ok so I am the kid that tip toed down the steps to peek at my xmas presents.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

2. OK, this guy with the faulty memory has been in charge of strategic issues

why would we have such a forgetful person in charge of our interests?
Hello!

[LibDemAlways]

3. At least one person on that jury has been threatened and

is pretty desperately looking for a reason to acquit. To a syndicate like the Bush Crime Family, jury tampering is small potatoes.

[maddezmom]

4. Libby jury resumes deliberations after question. Judge won't answer question as written

Libby jury resumes deliberations after question By Andy Sullivan
23 minutes ago



WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A jury resumed deliberations in the perjury trial of former vice presidential aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby on Monday after the judge declined to answer their question about the burden of proof needed to find him guilty.

The jury of seven women and four men asked Judge Reggie Walton on Friday to clarify whether they must conclude that it would not be "humanly possible" for Libby to forget certain conversations in order to convict him of obstructing and lying to investigators.

U.S. law requires prosecutors to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Walton said he would not answer the question because it was too vague.

"'Humanly possible' is just a nebulous term, and I don't know exactly what it means," Walton told lawyers involved in the case.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070305/ts_nm/usa_crime_libby_dc;_ylt=AobzzSzgUufjTIKCdyqj_WCs0NUE

[Mz Pip]

5. Sort of like

asking if lots of cookie crumbs on a kid is good enough evidence to show he's responsible for the empty cookie jar. Or is the prosecution required to bring in an expert witness to prove kids like cookies?

How many crumbs have to be on Libby's face? How many conversations could he reasonable 'forget'? If it were just one conversation, I could see the reasonable doubt. But 9? I don't buy the "I forgot" excuse at all.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[youngdem]

6. My guess is that it is hung, the juror stated the reason and the reason is weak, so...

to show him/her it doesn't fit the definition of 'reasonable doubt' so they can go back at the holdout(s).

IMHO.

[cassiepriam]

7. What the heck is going on?? Why is this taking so long?

[w4rma]

8. I have little doubt that it is a zealot right-wingnut holdout.

Try explaining *anything* to a zealot right-winger and I'll bet you'd know exactly what the other 10 members of the jury are having to deal with, now.

[cassiepriam]

9. Yep some freeper type no doubt. No brains, no soul. Good luck folks.