Wednesday crossing

CTV NewsNet has just aired a report from David Akin about the start of today's part of the trial. He disclosed that the defense is already "trash talking" Mr. Radler, and the combative words are coming from Edward Genson. He said, before the trial started today, that Eddie Greenspan "will 'destroy' Radler"; they will prove that Mr. Radler was a liar. As the trial began, there was meeting over admissibility of some of his testimony. Mr. Genson claimed that Radler lied to the FBI. He also said to the media, "'We'll get to it; we'll get to the truth.'" He also noted that the press gallery/spectator area is packed. A report webbed by CTV.ca News carries both quotes.

CBC Newsworld just broadcast an update, starting at 11:10 AM, in which Havard Gould reported that so far, Mr. Radler is still under direct examination, detailing the “scheme” and the “pattern.” He’s now testifying about another transaction. When he was asked this morning why he didn’t bring the non-compete payments up to the audit committee, he answered “'I knew it was wrong.'”

When anchor Nancy Wilson asked Mr. Gould about the upcoming cross-examination, he first showed clips containing quotes from Edward Genson and Eddie Greenspan: Csr. Genson’s quote about "destroying Radler," and Csr. Greenspan saying “I hope Mr. Genson is right.” The defense team wants to prove that Mr. Radler is lying, for the sake of the sweetheart deal in exchange for his testimony. It is hoped that the cross-examination will begin later today.

The 13 boxes have also played a part in the trial this morning. The Globe and Mail's Paul Waldie has a report, webbed early this morning, out on them. From it: "Prosecutors have asked to introduce several memos Lord Black wrote to his colleagues at Hollinger International Inc.... One is called 'Christmas musing' and another 'Spring time contemplations.' At the end of the report, there's a "peek" at the contents of the boxes.

In an interview on CTV NewsNet aired right after 11:30 AM, Mr. Akin reported that Judge St. Eve has ruled that content of them is inadmissible, but the prosecution can “describe” them as evidence of relationship between Mr. Radler and Conrad Black, painting a picture that coheres with Mr. Radler's testimony. Mr. Radler also testified about a “bonus that Mr. Black authorized:” a small paper in [Mammoth], California. paid $2.6 million as a non-compete fee...a paper he and Mr. Black would later buy for a dollar. [Some additional details on this item can be found in this webbed report.]

BNN's noon news update had an item from the trial, after relaying that quote from Csr. Genson about Csr. Greenspan's cross-examination. (BNN concurred with a clip aired by the CBC showing Csr. Genson referring to Csr. Greenspan alone.) During the trial this morning, Csr. Genson asked for a mistrial, because Mr. Radler had read from an E-mail with material which was not covered by the indictment. Judge St. Eve declined the motion, saying that the defense can deal with it during cross-examination. The cross-examination itself will start after lunch.

The CBC has webbed a report on Mr. Radler's testimony so far, by Romina Maurino, which has lots more details than in the report linked to in braces above. (She also supplies the correct name of the town in California that I mistakenly transcribed earlier: it was Mammoth in California. Apologies for that.) The gist of her report is Mr. Radler's testimony that they both knew the non-compete payments were disguised bonuses. Weaved in the report is a linkage of this testimony to the case: that any non-compete money should have gone to Hollinger International instead of to other parties.

There's an Associated Press report out also, webbed by WQAD.com, which adds detail to that motion made by Csr. Genson that was struck down by Judge St. Eve: an E-mail read out by Eric Sussman referred to "his client's chef and chauffeur. Genson calls those comments 'inappropriate' and says they appeal 'to class prejudice.'" She not only struck down the motion, but also allowed Csr. Sussman to keep reading from them. A more recent report, with an extended quote from the E-mail itself, has been webbed by CBS2Chicago.com.

A report on the 1 PM broadcast (Eastern Time, as are times above) on CTV NewsNet has another update from David Akin, which started off by he disclosing that, as of the lunch break, the direct examination of Mr. Radler is all-but-through. The cross-examination will begin soon. Mr. Radler was asked about the regulatory filings where his and other top executives' compensation were declared. His testimony implied that the individual non-compete payments should have been disclosed as salary and/or bonus compensation. When asked by Kate Wheeler about the jury's interest level, Mr. Akin answered that it is a complex case, in part because of the four defendants, and in part because of its arcane financial details. At one point, Csr. Greenspan joked that he was going to cross-examine Eric Sussman, which lightened the mood somewhat. Mr. Akin also reported that it wasn’t just the hair-shirt E-mail that triggered the mistrail motion; others did, too. Judge St. Eve, though, chided Csr. Genson for making mistrial motions too freely as she rejected it.

Reuters has a report on the morning direct examination out as well, under the byline of Andrew Stern and James Kelleher, which starts with: "Conrad Black's business partner of 30 years testified on Wednesday that he knew the scheme he and the former media mogul devised to pay themselves bonuses was wrong." It also describes the relevant E-mails: "In those documents, some of which were presented in court, Black railed against Hollinger International shareholders who had challenged the non-competes and various other spending. He said executives should make 'conciliatory gestures' but insisted such moves were not 'a confession of excess' and that would cut into the 'comfortable enjoyment' of the money the company was making." The report also discloses, before offering more quotes from the E-mails read in court, that Mr. Radler also testified that, in his opinion, Mr. Black intended to run Hollinger Int'l as if it was a private, not a public, company.

Another update has been aired by CBC Newsworld, which also featured correspondent Havard Gould reporting that David Radler is still under direct examination. In his opinion, given on the stand, the non-compete cash not left with Hollinger Int'l was “siphoned off.” Mr. Gould noted that the E-mail read in court is familiar to trial watchers but is new to the jury. (It's quoted in the same Reuters report excerpted in the above paragraph.) The host, David Gray, commented that it “sounds like the golden goose is cooked now.”

The cross will be “brutal” according to Mr. Gould. It'll be the first chance this week to openly challenge Mr. Radler’s testimony, which Csr. Greenspan will be diligent at. Mr. Gould wasn't sure how much time the cross-examination will take, but he opined that Greenspan would like at least a week. (He won’t get it.) He’s been researching documents, and will probably use the same document-wielding stratagem that brought down earlier prosecution witnesses.

The latest update from CTV Newsnet (3 PM ET) reported that the cross-examination is imminent. David Radler has less than an hour, perhaps minutes, of direct examination left; the cross-examination should start as of 3:30 - 4:00 PM ET. The prosecution has prepared Mr. Radler for the cross; he has already admitted on the stand that he lied to the FBI while under direct. Csr. Sussman then asked why, but the question was objected to.

Romina Maurino has a report that covers all of Mr. Radler's testimony made under direct examination today, including: E-mails from the boxes; the birthday party; and, an admission that he "lied to a Hollinger special committee set up to investigate shareholder concerns in 2003 as well as to the federal government a year later... because he 'was trying to rationalize some of the transactions - I was fighting back.'"

----------

Mark Steyn's been liveblogging the trial today; as of 2:45 PM ET, there are five report-based entries in his trial blog. The first (earliest) one describes Judge St. Eve granting a motion made by Csr. Sussman barring Csr. Genson from making any more motions for a mistrial; the second is one sentence long; the third discloses that Csr. Greenspan's I-should-cross-examine-Sussman joke came from Csr. Sussman mixing up table arangements when questioning Mr. Radler about the birthday party, which the latter did not correct; the fourth is entiled "Snippypalooza" and reports on "attorney snippiness;" and the fifth is also sentence long. That sentence starts with "David Radler's performance was a little better than I expected," and ends with...