Bad news for Don Siegelman.

[Elwood P Dowd]

http://legalschnauzer.blogspot.com/2008/11/all-republican-panel-will-hear.html

All-Republican Panel Will Hear Siegelman Appeal

Three federal judges, all Republican appointees, have been chosen to hear the appeals of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman and his codefendant, HealthSouth founder Richard Scrushy.

The three-judge panel from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals will include Chief Judge J.L. Edmondson, Senior Judge James C. Hill, and Judge Gerald Bard Tjoflat. Oral arguments are set for December 9 in Atlanta.

President Gerald Ford appointed Hill and Tjoflat to the federal bench. President Ronald Reagan appointed Edmondson.

All three judges have experience in handling politically charged cases. But some of them have been involved in controversial rulings that are likely to give many Siegelman supporters pause.

Siegelman is a Democrat who held four statewide offices in Alabama--secretary of state, attorney general, lieutenant governor, and governor. A federal jury in 2006 convicted Siegelman and Scrushy of federal-funds bribery, conspiracy, and honest-services mail fraud.

Tjoflat was one of four Republican appointees who dissented in an 8-4 decision that sided with Al Gore's request to continue with manual recounts in Florida as part of the Bush v. Gore case in December 2000. Edmondson was one of three Republican appointees who sided with the majority in that case.

Tjoflat was part of a three-judge panel that weighed in on the 1994 election contest for Alabama Supreme Court chief justice between Republican Perry Hooper Sr. and Democrat Sonny Hornsby. The panel upheld a lower-court ruling that threw out 1,700 unwitnessed absentee ballots, making Hooper the winner.

Karl Rove was intimately involved in the Hooper/Hornsby race, and his efforts to get Hooper elected under controversial circumstances signaled a sea change in Alabama courts, which once were all Democratic and now lean way to the right.

Hill was part of a 2000 panel that allowed student-led prayer at Alabama's public schools.

<snip>

[Sanity Claws]

1. Wasn't the appeal argued earlier this week?

[Elwood P Dowd]

3. Yes, it was Tuesday morning.

I just found this article today detailing the makeup of the court. It was written November 27th.

[annabanana]

2. I understand that the evidence against him is nearly laughable..

I'm hoping that these (non b*sh appointees) have retained a shred of a sense of shame...

[Elwood P Dowd]

4. Maybe not as bad as I first thought.

Just found a later article from the same blog . . . .

Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Siegelman Appeals Panel Might Be Leaning Toward a New Trial
An attorney and a veteran journalist, both from Birmingham, said they expect a new trial to be granted in the Don Siegelman case, after listening to oral arguments yesterday at the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

Associated Press reported that two of the three judges made comments indicating they saw grounds for granting a new trial.

Attorney Ed Gentle said he expects the appeals panel, at the very least, will grant a new trial based on juror misconduct. Gentle also said he saw signs that the appellate court might overturn the case and throw it out entirely.

Glynn Wilson, of Locust Fork World News & Journal, reported Gentle's comments and said he agreed with the lawyer's analysis after hearing yesterday morning's court session, which lasted less than an hour.

The court's questions focused primarily on juror misconduct and an obstruction of justice count involving the purchase of a motorcycle, with little time spent on the alleged bribe between Siegelman and former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy.

Gentle said that might be a good sign for Siegelman and Scrushy. "The court can't be willfully blind to the overwhelming evidence" that jurors improperly read news reports and communicated via e-mail, Gentle told Wilson. "And if the motorcycle is all the prosecution has, they've got nothing."

Wilson reported that all three judges appeared to have in-depth knowledge of the case, based on having read briefs in the case. And he said the judges' questioning indicated they assumed the juror e-mails were authentic.

Immediately after the hearing, Siegelman said he was "impressed with the depth of knowledge of the judges on the case, and I have full confidence in the court."

Bob Johnson, of Associated Press, reported that one judge said the juror e-mails, if authentic, provided the basis for overturning the convictions and granting a new trial. Another judge said, "These are dynamite letters here."

<snip>

[trof]

5. You scared me to death. whew

No ruling yet.
Yeah, they're all repug appointees.
But they did spring him from jail.
I'm hoping.

[RB TexLa]

6. And the appeal for Edwin Edwards over a US attorney manipulating a jury starts when?

If anyone gave a shit about my governor I might give a shit about this guy.