Cleanup Batters, Part 2

The first trial observer today with details on today's testimony is Mark Steyn. Two of today's entries in his Maclean's Conrad Black trial blog relate to what Christopher Paci was brought back to the stand to testify about: a conference call that Csr. Paci had had with the Audit Committee. He testified that "'the person I believed to be Governor Thompson on the conference call said the transactions had been approved.'" After Csr. Paci was excused a second time, the cross-examination of Alan Funk resumed. Jeffrey Cramer went after the amount of fees charged by Mr. Funk and his associates, "his son and his brother (an expert in 'international tax law')."

Paul Waldie has written a report, webbed by the Globe and Mail, that also covers the cross-examination of Mr. Funk. In addition to the size of the fees charged, "Mr. Cramer also went after Mr. Funk's conclusions, suggesting that he had not examined many key documents. Mr. Funk stood by his conclusions." It ends with two notes: the defense may not rest today; and, the prosecution may call a rebuttal witness.

Mr. Waldie, in an interview aired at 1:55 PM on BNN, said that the current exchange “sums up the entire case.” It’s the cross-examination of Mr. Funk by Csr. Cramer, in which Mr. Funk concurred that lying and misrepresenting can escape a paper trail but also insisted that the amount and kind of documentation by Hollinger Int'l is inconsistent with criminal fraud.

Romina Maurino's first report of the day, as webbed by 680 News, fleshes out that exchange mentioned by Mr. Waldie. When asked if fraud by top management was the most difficult to detect, Mr. Funk assented. When asked if inadequacy of doumentatiion could be evidence of fraud, though, Mr. Funk answered "'Hypothetically, yes,'... adding that there was too much disclosure by Hollinger in this case to suggest fraud."

The Financial Post has webbed a report by Mary Vallis, which has information about two issues relating to Mr. Funk's testimony. First of all, the prosecution plans to call an employee of KPMG as a rebuttal witness. Secondly, counsel for the other three defendants notified Judge St. Eve before the jury arrived, that they will not refer to Mr. Funk's testimony in their closing arguments. Only Ron Safer, counsel for Mark Kipnis, might do so.

The Bloomberg report, written by Andrew Harris and Bob Van Voris, has some excerpts from the cross-examination of Mr. Funk: "A company's top managers are in the best position to perpetrate a fraud, [Mr. Funk testified.]... 'Those are the best frauds,' Funk told prosecutor Jeffrey Cramer during cross-examination testing his court-certified expertise.... 'Sometimes the fraudsters are more clever than the auditors,' said Funk, who is also a former U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent."

Mr. Waldie, as webbed in the Globe and Mail, has also reported that the defense has rested. All four defendants have declined their right to testify. According to the report, that rebuttal witess is not expected to testify; tomorrow will be confined to legal arguments made to the judge. So, the expected rebuttal witness will evidently not be called after all. A report from the Canadian Press, webbed by 680 News, mentions the same items.

So does the Associated Press report written by Mike Robinson, as webbed by the Chicago Tribune. It also explicitly mentions that the prosecution's rebuttal witness was excused. At that point, Judge St. Eve explicitly announced that "'we are done with the evidentiary portion of this case.'" The rest of the report recaps highlights of the charges and the defense's answers to them.

The Reuters report, written by Andrew Stern, focuses on Conrad Black's denial of his right to testify. Now that Mr. Black's non-appearance of the witness stand is a certainty, the report also conveys the disappointment some felt at not seeing him take the stand.

CTV News has webbed an expanded Canadian Press report, which quotes legal expert Lee Dunst about the significance of the Conrad Black and the other defendants' decision not to testify. It ends with a summary of Mr. Funk's testimony, both under direct and cross-examination. The same report, explicitly credited to Romina Maurino, has been webbed by 680 News.

And finally, the defense's resting has made it onto Radio New Zealand.

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Editor and Publisher has a report on the latest Sun-Times Media Group annual meeting...which lasted thirty-five minutes. No shareholders' questions were asked at all.

Douglas Bell, in the Toronto Life Conrad Black trial blog, has written an eyewitness account of yesterday's session at the trial, including the revelation of the threat E-mail. He says that John O'Sullivan had taken "a serious pasting on cross-examination."

From the "Black Board," Mary Vallis reports on the gremlins in and surrounding the courtroom, especially the ones clustering around the court projector.