(NH republic) Jamming conviction reversed

[jpak]

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/state/070322tobin.html

CONCORD, N.H. - A federal appeals court on Wednesday reversed the conviction and sentence of James Tobin, the former regional chairman of President Bush's re-election campaign, who was sentenced to 10 months in prison for his role in an Election Day phone-jamming plot against New Hampshire Democrats.

Tobin, of Bangor, Maine, was convicted in December 2005 on two criminal charges of telephone harassment in the scheme, which tied up campaign phone lines for more than an hour when Republican John Sununu won a hotly contested U.S. Senate race against then-Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat. The lines had been set up by the state Democratic Party and the Manchester firefighters' union.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston ruled that the statute under which Tobin was convicted "is not a close fit" for what Tobin did and questioned whether the government showed that Tobin showed an intent to harass.

"Oh my God, wow, you know sometimes there is no justice," said New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairwoman Kathy Sullivan, who announced Tuesday that Democrats will ask Congress to investigate whether prosecution was intentionally delayed until after the presidential election in 2004.

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[NewJeffCT]

1. Not a huge surprise

since most of the appeals courts are packed with Republicans (except for the 9th that Republicans want to break up)

[kitkat65]

2. I guess that means Republican phone lines can be jammed with impunity, no?

Tit for tat?

[NewYorkerfromMass]

3. Yeah I just read that on the Globe site

And part of the original case was settled with money between the GOP and Dems.
They did at least get some guilty pleas.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/03/22/court_tosses_conviction_in_election_phone_plot/

[MADem]

4. Wow, "The Fix is in!" Surprise, sur-prize! Not....

Tobin, who was free pending his appeal, and four defense lawyers did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. The Republican National Committee paid for Tobin's defense, despite maintaining a public position that the party would not tolerate vote tampering.
The appeals court said testimony left a question of "whether a jury could rationally conclude that Tobin had so far associated himself with the emerging plan as to make him effectively a party to it."
At the time of the phone jamming, Tobin was a regional official with the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, overseeing Senate campaigns in several states. He went on to serve as President Bush's New England re-election campaign chairman in 2004, but resigned after the allegations surfaced.
The jamming has led to four criminal prosecutions and a civil lawsuit.
The two people who pleaded guilty to criminal charges were Charles McGee, executive director of the state Republican Party in 2002, and Allen Raymond, then head of GOP Marketplace, a telemarketing firm in Alexandria, Va.

[wicket]

5. Cue the Church Lady:

"Well isn't that special?!"

:eyes:

God these people make me sick.