Media Roundup: Wrapping It Up (Plot's Turn)

The media reports, webbed overnight and this morning, on the Conrad Black trial have three focal points: the testimony of Alan Funk; the previous testimony of John O'Sullivan; and, the threatening E-mail introduced into evidence yesterday:

1. The report by David Litterick of the Telegraph is entitled "Lord Black juror says evidence 'is pretty shaky'."

2. An updated Bloomberg report centres on the testimony of Alan Funk, a forensic accountant and former FBI agent. "Kipnis' lawyer, Michael Schwarz,... questioned Funk about his review of records kept by Hollinger's outside auditor, KPMG LLP. Schwarz also asked Funk about his review of witness interview notes compiled by the FBI and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and his observation of seven other witnesses at the trial." Mr. Funk testified that the way Hollinger International was run, especially its heavy reliance upon outside accounting staff, is inconsistent with the operation of a company that is trying to cover up fraud. He did, however, stipulate under cross-examination by Jeffrey Cramer that it is "sometimes necessary to 'go beyond the paper trail' to determine whether there is fraud." The rest of the report summarizes the completed testimony of John O'Sullivan and the testimony of Laurent Weisel, one of Conrad Black's lawyers, who said that he and his colleagues had answered four SEC requests for documents back in 2003 and '04, without even the appearance of justice obstruction.

3. An anecdote revolving around Judge St. Eve's demand for punctuality is the first item of two in Patricia Best's latest "Nobody's Business" column in the Globe and Mail. [The anecdote's also been blogged.]

4. A report by Ameet Sachdev of the Chicago Tribune reviews all of yesterday's testimony and evidence, including that threatening E-mail written by "Brent Herbert."

5. The Vancouver Province has webbed an excerpt of the Bloomberg report, which focuses on the testimony of Mr. O'Sullivan and ends with a mention of Csr. Weisel's.

6. Mary Vallis' latest report, webbed by the National Post, begins with more details on the threatening E-mail, which was actually addressed to Richard Perle although the threat was meant for Mr. Black himself. The "second" E-mail was a forwarded copy of the threat with an added note by Mr. Perle recommending that it be forwarded to the London police. The rest of the report recaps Mr. O'Sullivan's testimony, mentioning that Conrad Black had put Mr. Sullivan up in his residence for approx. 18 months, and it goes into detail about Mr. Funk's on page 2. His testimony is described as "slow and at times labourious. Several jurors repeatedly glanced at the clock, while others closed their eyes at times during Mr. Funk's testimony." The report ends with three questions asked by Csr. Cramer under cross examination. Two of them, Mr. Funk answered "'yes'" to; the third, "'Whether or not the buyers required the non-compete agreements, you'd agree with me that might be relevant?'", Mr Funk answered "'No.'"

7. A write-up from the Canadian Press, webbed by CBC News, mentions that the cross-examination of Mr. Funk will continue today, and that the defense should call a few more witnesses, "but none of the remaining witnesses will take more than 30 minutes each."

8. An opinion piece by Lisa Kate Osofsky, webbed by the Times Online, advocates the introduction of plea bargaining for serious fraud cases in the U.K.

9. An abridged version of Ms. Vallis' report has been webbed by the Vancouver Sun. It focuses upon the threatening E-mail and Mr. O'Sullivan's testimony.

10. A report by Rick Westhead of the Toronto Star is entitled "Death threat by 'prophet' spurs laughter." Near its end, it mentions some of the items that were in the 13 boxes: "On the list [of their contents] were Black's correspondence with Toronto Cardinal Aloysius Ambrozic, photos, work papers and a copy of a non-compete agreement signed by Black in 2000. Personal effects such as Black's Air Miles statements and insurance papers for Amiel's jewellery were also included." A sidebar on Mr. Funk's testimony reveals that he testified that he had gone through about 400,000 pages of KPMG work-paper documents.

11. Paul Waldie's first report of the day, webbed by the Globe and Mail, focuses on the threatening E-mail, mentioning that it was brought in to counter suggestions by the prosecution that Mr. Black's security worries didn't begin until 2003. It also mentions the introduction of the 13 boxes' content list into evidence by Csr. Genson.

12. The latest from Mary Wisniewski of the Chicago Sun-Times centres on the testimony of Mr. O'Sullivan, and notes that what he said on the stand "contradicted claims by prosecution witnesses that the December 2000 surprise party for Black's wife was just a party without a business purpose." At its end, it mentions the testimony of Mr. Funk.

13. The second report by Mr. Waldie, also webbed by the Globe, has an itinerary of the rest of the trial. Once the defense witnesses are done with - the report mentions two of them by name - Judge St. Eve will formally ask each of the defendants if they want to testify in their own defense. Closing arguments will begin next Monday. Slated for each are: Julie Ruder, for the prosecution; Csr. Genson, for Conrad Black; "followed likely by Patrick Tuite for Mr. Boultbee, Benito Romano for Mr. Atkinson and Ronald Safer for Mr. Kipnis." Then comes the rebuttal from the prosecution and instructions to the jury.

14. An excerpt from the same Bloomberg report has been webbed by the Melbourne Herald-Sun. It focuses upon the testimony of Mr. Funk.