The Verdict: First Week Recap

The bulk of tonight's episode of The Verdict was a re-run of interview clips from the past week. The first re-shown segment was the interview with Joanne Walters, eyewitness to the Barbara Black flare-up, from last Monday's episode.

The second trial-related segment (the third one shown) was a repeat of the interview of Richard Kurland, a Canadian immigration lawyer who was on to discuss the legal hurdles Conrad Black would face if he were convicted. Csr. Kurlin said that, at present, Mr. Black's application to regain his Canadian citizenship was on hold, and even if it got moving again, it would take months to process, given the high-profile nature of the case. He offered the opinion that Mr. Black, if convicted, would have no option other than to serve his time in the United States.

The third trial-related segment featured Jacob Frenkel, brought on to discuss those thirteen boxes taken out of 10 Toronto Street by Conrad Black. He opined that what was in them will be less relevant than the fact that they were removed at all. (A Canadian court will decide on the legality of that removal.) Both this interview and the one with Csr. Kurland were on Tuesday's episode.

The fourth and final segment was a four-way discussion with a triumvirate of journalists; the subject was Alana Black, Mr. Black's daughter. It aired on Monday.

Ms. Todd's "closing argument" was new, though, and ended with a brief scoring of the two sides. She described the trial as a mix between the “memorable and mundane.” The juror who derailed the trial did so through getting the day wrong. The judge herself, Amy St. Eve, has proven to be one of the stars to watch. The jurors seem to enjoy their lessons on high finance. The prosecution witnesses so far were methodical, but cross-examination revealed, in her word, “inconsistencies” in each of their testimonies. According to Ms. Todd, as of now, it’s “advantage Black.”

[The latest episode is broadbanded, after a reasonable webbing time, until it's replaced by the next one. Once this re-cap episode is up, it'll stay up until Tuesday night, because Monday's episode has been bumped off by the Quebec election coverage.]