Latest on the Gordon Paris testimony

According to this report from Reuters, Gordon Paris has testified about Tweedy, Browne demanding action over the fees collected by Conrad Black and the other defendants, as well as the perks they got. These fees not only included the non-compete fees but also management fees, which Tweedy, Browne thought were too high. Mr. Paris also disclosed that it was he who brought in Richard Breeden. Edward Greenspan's attempt to get Mr. Paris to admit on the stand that "he was tardy notifying the government of a stock grant he received" was denied by Judge St. Eve with the jury absent.

Csr. Greenspan was successful, though, in getting Mr. Paris to admit that he didn't know much about the newspaper business: "You became the managing person, the guy who had the chief managing role in this company where you never had any experience before." [Thanks to Maclean's "Daily Digest" for this quote.]

Another detailed report is here. It specifies what Csr. Greenspan did jump on: the fact that Mr. Paris was on the perks-and-fees investigative committee at the same time he was on both the audit committee and the board itself, which "would have made it difficult for him to be impartial..." Mr. Paris dealt with the implication that he wanted Conrad Black's job: "Paris said he didn't want the CEO's job, but had to take it as so many other senior executives had left the company by that time."

He did, though, raise his voice when denying that these roles compromised his objectivity, according to this report. Also from it: "Mr. Greenspan said it appeared that Mr. Paris had been paid US$511,375, or more than US$17,000 a day, for just six weeks of work as president and CEO in 2003."

Bloomberg's report is here. It notes that Csr. Greenspan asked, in cross-examination, if directors James Thompson and Henry Kissinger were "pushovers." Mr. Paris replied, with respect to the influence Conrad Black had over them, that he didn't know and couldn't comment.

Associated Press also has a report out. This webbing of it is courtesy of Forbes. Includes the note that Mr. Paris was notified that he got the CEO's job by James Thompson: "'Thompson said, congratulations, that they expected me to assume the role under the circumstances and given the loss of a substantial number of executives' from the company,' said Paris..."

MSNBC.com has one too, a repost from FT.com. It points to Eddie Greenspan's ignorance of American trial procedure: "On several occasions, Mr Greenspan's questions were objected to by prosecutors on technical grounds, leaving Mr Greenspan speechless in some cases and looking to his American co-counsel for guidance."

Mark Steyn also notes on his blog that Csr. Greenspan wasn't used to American procedure, although Mr. Steyn softened Csr. Grenspan's procedural flubs by writing that he "came away with some hits but one big miss." Mr. Steyn also admitted that he had earlier underestimated the prosecutors.

Another news outlet, AllHeadlineNews.com, is now covering the trial; its brief report on Mr. Paris' testimony is here.

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The Nation is also weighing in, on the class war aspect. Its report is by Naomi Klein, and focuses on Conrad Black's role as proponent of the "Anglosphere." It includes the name of the accountant who was dismissed by Judge St. Eve for pro-prosecution bias: John Tien. Her report, which is not an explicit call for comeuppance, will appear in the magazine itself (Apr. 9 issue.)