Media Roundup: Deliberating

The media reports, webbed overnight and today, on the Conrad Black trial are concentrating on what is likely to be the last news event before the verdict is rendered - the start of jury deliberations:

1. NewsMax.com has webbed a version of the Reuters report on yesterday's trial events. It covers the deliberations, the instructions and the final part of the prosecutorial rebuttal. [An abbreviated version of this report has been webbed by the Los Angeles Times.]

2. A report by Eric Ferkenhoff of the New York Times notes that the jury has deliberated for about two-and-a-half hours, before it recaps the case.

3. The Amherst Daily News has webbed Romina Maurino's latest report, which concentrates on the deliberations and the instructions that the jury must now follow. A lengthy quote from Eddie Greenspan is in its middle; near its end, there's a brief recap of Eric Sussman's prosecutorial rebuttal.

4. The Houston Chronicle's list of business stories "Around The Nation" has the wind-up of the trial as its first item.

5. The Salt Lake Tribune has webbed the Associated Press report, written by Dave Carpenter, on the start of deliberations. It notes the centrality of David Radler's testimony to the outcome.

6. Canada East has webbed a what-to-expect report that says the jury deliberations are to continue today.

7. Ameet Sachdev of the Chicago Tribune has written a report that stresses the complexity of the case, and the "unenviable" task the jury faces, largely because of the document-centered nature of the case and the huge amount of documents in it.

8. Peter Worthington's latest column, as webbed by the Ottawa Sun, begins by concurring that the outcome is impossible to forecast. He goes out of his way to mention that Csr. Sussman, in yesterday's part of the rebuttal, focused almost excessively on Mark Kipnis; he compared it to a "filibuster." Mr. Worthington also notes that "[t]here's lots of obtuse language in the judge's instructions, which is guaranteed to confuse some of those on the jury if they actually attempt to read and understand them."

9. A mention of the trial is item #4 in the Boston Globe's "Business Notebook." It's entitled "Near the end."

10. Janet Whitman's report on the start of deliberations for the New York Post is sub-titled "Black Legal Team Counts On The 'Can't Win 'Em All' Theory." She handicaps the length of deliberations by noting that "legal experts said they would be surprised if the jury's deliberations wrap up in less than a week or two."

11. The Toronto Star's Rosie DiManno is still on the trial beat. The bulk of her latest column imputes nervousness, and even a sense of helplessness, to Conrad Black.

12. The first part of Paul Waldie's latest report, webbed by the Globe and Mail, focuses on yesterday's part of the rebuttal, noting that Csr. Sussman had also "quoted comments that three disgruntled Hollinger shareholders made during the company's annual meetings in 2002 and 2003." The second part focuses on Csr. Greenspan's reaction to the conclusion of the proceedings.

13. Another writer for the Canadian Press has written another report on the start of deliberations, as webbed by 680 News.

14. BNN aired an interview with Eddie Greenspan, conducted yesterday evening but broadcasted at about 11:08 AM ET today. He refused to rate this case with respect to all the others in which he's been a defense lawyer, but he did acknowledge “tremendous pressures” that were largely logistical. He also mentioned the paper blizzard of E-mails, which had added considerably to the document count. Csr. Greenspan has continued to decline to comment on case specifics, but he did say that Conrad Black maintains his innocence. He describes Conrad as an “excellent” client who trusts his lawyers. Regarding the possibility of a conviction for his client, he made an observation about miscarriages of justices before saying that Conrad Black is “highly confident” about the outcome.

15. WQAD.com has webbed an AP summary on the deliberations so far. It mentions a note passed to Judge St. Eve informing her that they plan to sit all day today and from 9 AM to 1 PM CT tomorrow. (According to a BNN ndewscast, this note caused a bit of a false-alarm flurry.)

16. BNN had a brief interview with Amanda Lang, aired at 1:33 PM ET. She reported on an issue being hashed over in court proceedings today: forfeiture of Conrad Black's property as part of a fine if he's convicted. This may require a new jury instruction if jury has to be brought in to decide on it. She also said that there's thirty minutes' notice for a verdict, and fifteen minutes for any other notice, such as this forfeiture issue.

17. Ms. Lang and Kevin O'Leary had a discussion on the deliberations for the BNN show "Squeeze Play" at about 5:25 PM ET. She started off by stating that jurors' notes can be telling about jury mindset, citing a question from the Scooter Libby trial deliberations where they asked if it would be possible for one person to forget what everyone else remembered. The only two that have been sent to the judge in the Conrad Black trial were about the scheduling and a request for a piece of evidence that should have been in the jury room. She didn't specify what piece.

Mr. O’Leary said that he expects deliberations to take place over a long time, with Conrad acquitted on all or most of the charges against him. He then asked Ms. Lang if there were any reporters still waiting for the verdict, and she replied that there are about 24 of them: Brits, locals, and Canadians. The number may dwindle.

Her call on the length of deliberations is 2-3 weeks, because there are lots of procedural duties that the jury has to follow. The discussion ended with a note of all the civil actions that Conrad Black will be involved in if acquitted, implying that he's not out of the legal woods even if he walks.

18. That requested exhibit is mentioned in a new report by Ms. Maurino, as webbed by 680 News. "What the jury asked for was a breakdown of disputed non-compete payments made to Black, the other defendants and prosecution witness David Radler." In contradistinction to the momentary media excitement, the lawyers are used to being summoned to court for answering juror questions; the report quotes Csr. Greenspan to that effect. Before going into depth on the deliberation process itself, including quotes from two experts, the report quotes Conrad Black about the second summons: "'It's really exciting, the jury wants an exhibit,' Black said sarcastically to a throng of reporters that followed him out."

19. A briefer report by Mary Vallis, as webbed by Canada.com, is more specific about the exhibit: "The jury in the fraud and racketeering trial of Conrad Black has asked to see a summary chart that the prosecution used to explain non-compete payments.... [It] contained a table illustrating the various newspaper transactions and related non-compete payments that are at the heart of the case against Black and his three co-defendants."

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Richard J. Finlay, in "Finlay ON Governance," has an assessment of the entire trial from a corporate-governance perspective, which starts off with this header: "Whatever else it may be, the Hollinger saga has been another valuable lesson in how not to run a company —and in what kind of company investors should avoid." From the perspective he uses, the story is long over, as Conrad Black has long been expunged from the CEOship of both Hollingers. The major operational weakness of Hollinger's corporate-governance structure was a too-accomodative board, which let the CEO get away with conduct that was (at the very least) irresponsible towards the shareholders. When this point is realized, the operations of Hollinger aren't that easy for others to distance themselves from except by cleaning up.


A more in-depth set of comments on the prosecutorial rebuttal has been made by Steve Skurka, who has written ten observations on it in his blog, "The Crime Sheet." He notes that Judge St. Eve had taken 57 minutes to read the jury instructions, and ends this latest entry with: "Conrad Black is a lucky man. His jury is concerned about getting it right and reaching a just verdict. The stakes are enormous. It will be the most important day of an illustrious life If Black is found guilty of a single charge, he will be led out of court in handcuffs and will be in custody until his sentencing. If there is an acquittal, there will be a fireworks display in honour of Canada Day. It will be sponsored by the Canadian libel bar."