Analysis and Opinions

Two opinion pieces discussing the Conrad Black trial are from women. First of all, the CBC's Georgie Binks puckishly opines that none of the men participating in the trial have been called "hotties" because none of them are. Secondly, Bloomberg's Ann Wollner, a pro-comeuppance observer, focuses on Conrad Black's arrogance and notes that this attitude and corporate crime often go together.

Here are four analysis pieces:

1. Andrew Harris of Bloomberg focuses in on the age gap between the prosecution team (average age close to mine) and Conrad Black's defense team (average age close to that of my father, if you care.) Mr. Harris notes that Patrick Fitzgerald is planning to sit the trial out, and act as a kind of executive consultant.

2. The Guardian has one that allows comments; it's in the "Comment Is Free" subdomain. The author of it, George Tombs, focuses on the prevalence of television in America, and wonders how long it will be before the made-for-TV specials on the Conrad Black trial will be put together. He holds up the opening statement of assistant prosecutor Jeffery Cramer as eminently filmable.

As of March 24th, 10 AM EDT, there are 25 comments, many of which are from Americans either complaining about Mr. Tombs' snobbishness or stating that they don't care all that much about the trial. As of Mar. 25th, 11:05 PM, there's 33. The 26th and 29th in the thread are responses to previous comments from Mr. Tombs himself; in the latter one, he discloses that he's a teacher.

[NOTE: The "Chicago Law" observation originally came from Mark Steyn. Mr. Steyn himself used "Chicago Legal."]

3. The Financial Times has an assessment of Mr. Black's defense so far, as somewhat less than stellar. Mr. Black himself is part of this anticlimax; he's quoted in the piece as saying, “It went well, I think.”

4 "OhMyNews" International of South Korea has a piece that interprets Conrad Black's legal and financial woes as a case study in hubris and nemesis. It seems to have been written before the trial started, but it does have a lot of background information.

5. Posted by 940 News of Montreal, an analysis and wrap-up in one, from the Canadian Press. It includes Mr. Black's latest: "Rarely at a loss for a pithy comment, the 62-year-old Montreal-born Black's final words after the week's circus: 'What nostalgia.'" It explains why both Conrad and Barbara Black are such media magnets in Canada, and why the trial is too. This analysis is written by Romina Maurino, who is credited for it in the Toronto Star's post of it.


Also: A write-up on the "elephant in the courtroom," an internal report whose "architect" was Gordon Paris that has been ruled inadmissible because it contains language that might prejudice the jury. The write-up, written by David Bailey of Reuters UK, notes that the report, though not allowed to be referred to explicitly, nevertheless has an influence. (My guess as to why: the prosecution relied upon it when preparing the indictment.)