Wrapping It Up (Final Soliloquy)

CTV NewsNet aired a report from David Akin with the first details on the ending of Eric Sussman's closing address. For the first half-hour today, Csr. Sussman concentrated on Peter Atkinson. The defense is making objections repeatedly. Mr. Akin also reported that the jury instructions are going to take at least a couple of hours. Proceedings will end at 3 PM CT, because of a prior commitment a juror has.

Mark Steyn has reported that Csr. Sussman has said that "he'll be taking up the morning" with the rebuttal. Two later entries mention two verbal mannerisms the prosecutor is deploying. One he's already known for using, the other is new.

CBC Newsworld aired a report from Heather Hiscox at approximately 11:10 AM ET. In the latter part of it, she mentioned that Csr. Sussman is still going, and has asked for the entire morning to finish his rebuttal as Mr. Steyn had reported. Given that two hours will be needed to deliver the jury instructions, and the lunch break, the jury instructions are likely to be finished by that 3 PM constraint mentioned by Mr. Akin. (The first part was taken up by a review of the jury instructions.)

An excerpt of what Csr. Sussman had said about Mr. Atkinson is contained in a CP report webbed by 680 News: "Lead prosecutor Eric Sussman took them through several government arguments against Black co-defendant Peter Atkinson, saying he's not the 'open and honest' man the defence makes him out to be."

A more recent interview with Mr. Akin, aired by CTV NewsNet at 12:02 PM ET, had him reporting that Csr. Sussman is almost finished with his rebuttal. The jurors’ body language shows, according to Mr. Akin, that they’re ready to get right at the deliberations. The jurors will have access to all the evidence, but they must ask the judge questions in writing, and the judge must vet the lawyers before answering.

Conrad Black was there, stone-faced, and Mr. Atkinson’s face turned red at times. Mr. Akin also noted that, once a verdict is delivered, there will be 30 minutes’ notice given.

According to a BNN news bulletin, aired at 12:15 PM ET, Csr. Sussman has now finished his rebuttal. Mr. Steyn has reported that Csr. Sussman had been asked by Judge St. Eve if he was near to finishing, just before he finished.

An updated CP report, as webbed by 570 News, has some excerpts on the final part of Csr. Sussman's rebuttal, which pertain to what he said about Mr. Atkinson: "'He was not open and honest about the bonus money... Why did Peter Atkinson confess? Because with all the documents, all the witnesses - he knew the jig was up...." The report also described Conrad Black as looking "weary" as of earlier this morning.

Mr. Steyn has landed a scoop: after finishing his rebuttal, Csr. Sussman announced that the government is withdrawing one charge of tax fraud against Mr. Atkinson "in respect of Hollinger's 1999 tax return." CBC Newsworld has also announced that the judge's instructions have begun.

A Bloomberg report on the rebuttal has Csr. Sussman's final words "urging them to convict all four defendants... 'Justice demands it,' Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Sussman said. 'Return a verdict of guilty on all counts.' It also mentions he reprising a theme that he had included yesterday: the thirteen prosecution witness that, Sussman claimed, the defense impugned as liars. "'They want you to believe that all these witnesses lied,'' Sussman said. 'Because if that testimony stands, they are sunk.'" [An updated version of this same report has quotes from Eddie Greenspan about the trial now that it's in the hands of the jury. It also mentions the dropped tax-fraud charge against Mr. Atkinson, a few of the instructions, and spends some time on the pbstruction-of-justice charge.]

A new CP report, webbed by 680 News, has confirmed that the reading of the instructions has begun. It says that "[e]stimates on the length of deliberations range from a couple of days to more than three weeks."

A report from Paul Waldie, webbed by the Globe and Mail and containing some material from the Canadian Press, passes along some of the rhetorical techniques that Csr. Sussman had used today. "Mr. Sussman spent two hours this morning taking apart defence arguments. He said over and over that Lord Black and three other defendants stole money that belonged to shareholders of Hollinger international Inc." He also brought in the concept of "honest services," tying it in with the fact that there are few guarantees in the stock market. It also reports that Csr. Sussman "ended his remarks by showing jurors an e-mail Lord Black wrote in May 2002 that said, 'Two years from now no one will remember any of this.'"

Mr. Steyn has called attention to an instruction, read by Judge St. Eve, that other commentators haven't as of yet. It relates to the obstruction-of-justice charge: "To 'obstruct justice', you have to obstruct an 'official proceeding'. In her instructions to the jury, Judge St Eve told them that an 'internal corporate document retention policy' does not constitute an 'official proceeding'."

Amanda Lang, reporting on BNN at 1:54 PM ET, said that the instructions have taken away the vagueness surrounding the relevant legal terms. She also noted what the updated Bloomberg report had mentioned: the instructions have now been given. The three alternates have been dismissed, but have also been put “on call” in case one or more of the jurors has to withdraw. A later update, at 2:01 PM ET, said that the jury is now deliberating.

Andrew Stern of Reuters has a report out that also covers the beginning of the deliberations. He notes in it that "[t]here was no clue as to which way the jury was leaning after hearing from about 50 witnesses in a case involving complex business transactions that prosecutors say amounted to common thievery." The rest of the report recaps the end of the rebuttal and the dropping of one of the charges that Mr. Atkinson is facing.

A wrap-up of the entire day's events has been written by Andrew Clark and webbed by the Guardian. He mentions that all of Conrad Black's children were there, as well as Barbara Black and her ex-husband George Jonas. [An updated version has added a quote from Csr. Greenspan and mentions Patrick Fitzgerald's 90% conviction rate in federal criminal trials.]

WQAD.com has webbed a briefer one from the Associated Press, and the International Herald Tribune has webbed a slightly longer version of that AP summary. The last report says that the reading of the instructions had taken 48 minutes.

A much more extensive wrap-up, covering the entire trial, has been written by Theresa Tedesco and webbed by the Financial Post. Every major point in the trial is touched upon in it. She even worked in a few snippets from Mr. Black's notorious E-mails. Her report is part of a coverage extravaganza in the Post that includes a report by Mary Vallis on the day's events. The last mentions that "[i]n the final moments of the trial, Mr. Sussman presented the jury with two large, black placards that read 'honesty' and 'loyalty.'" (Thanks to an anonymous commenter who put me on to these.)

BNN aired a double interview with Amanda Lang and Paul Waldie at 5:13 PM ET, for the show “Squeeze Play.” Ms. Lang started off by recounting the day’s events. She highlighted one moment in the rebuttal: Csr. Sussman said that the case hinges upon the government’s credibility, which struck Ms. Lang as powerful and even effective. Mr. Waldie thought that the prosecution’s distancing its case from David Radler was “telling.” He was supposed to be the prosecution’s prime witness.

Kevin O’Leary then asked about gender influence on the jury. Ms. Lang replied that it might not have any, despite expert opinion to the contrary. Interestingly enough, she noted, the jury has formed into “cliques.” The four men have been attentive. There's no sense of how long the jury will be deliberating.

An interview clip, with Csr. Greenspan answering after being asked what he would have done differently, was aired. He didn’t answer except for generalities. Mr. Waldie, commenting on his performance, said that Csr. Greenspan had real trouble with procedural rules at first, and he was more confrontational than other defense lawyers, but his close was effective. Bringing him in was a risky play that, according to Mr. Waldie, paid off.

There will be 30 minutes’ notice, but only lawyers can be admitted to the building after 6 PM. But, it’s unlikely that jury will stay long after hours because the air conditioning is turned off at 5 PM.

To get back to other wrap-up reports, AHN has webbed a summary that sketches out what the jury will be deliberating on. James Bone of the Times Online is one of the few reporters to stick his neck out in terms of time. His report is entitled "Restless jury could reach quick verdict in trial of Lord Black" and cites the eagerness of the jury to get on with the proceedings, as well as a once-expressed desire to stay late, as evidence for his call. The bulk of his report meshes highlights from Csr. Sussman's rebuttal with the judge's instructions.

Ms. Maurino's latest report, as webbed by 1130 News, relates the emphasis that Judge St. Eve had put in her instructions upon considering each charge separately. She notes that this emphasis may lengthen the deliberation process considerably, as there are a total of 43 charges to consider. The report also contains an extensive quote from Csr. Greenspan after deliberations began: "[He] said he was impressed with the jury's diligence, saying they had 'paid a lot of attention' even when the trial was 'majorly boring.'... Black and his family 'were holding up exceptionally well... This has been a very tense and very nerve-racking trial... We're not at home, we're here in Chicago, so none of us are living in our homes... for four months and every morning is getting up to get to court at 8:30 in the morning and stay 'til five and that's our life.'" [A version webbed by 570 News has two fact sheets at its end, one about the defendants and the other about the trial itself.]

A brief quote from Csr. Greenspan is near the end of a more extensive AP report, as webbed by MSN Money. After mentioning that the jury is now deliberating, it says: "The deliberations cap a trial that probed both the complex and the sensational. Its focus ranged from a blow-by-blow of Hollinger's newspaper transactions to the high-flying lifestyle of the aristocratic Black and whether he siphoned corporate money to pay for a vacation in Bora Bora, a surprise birthday party for his wife and apartments on Park Avenue in New York." Also mentioned is the claim by Eric Sussman, during the rebuttal, that a "'false pretense [that exists in this case] is that [a non-compete payments to the defendants is] non-compete money," Sussman said. 'It's really a bonus.'" WQAD.com has also webbed an AP fact sheet on the entire trial.


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A "Media Scout" report in Maisonneuve points out that the National Post print edition has devoted the first eleven pages to coverage of the Conrad Black trial and claims that most of it is slanted. The author, Daniel Tencer, also claims that Rosie DiManno's latest is slanted the other way.

More trial-centered is Matthew McClearn's review of the first part of Csr. Sussman's rebuttal in the Canadian Business Black trial blog. The beginning of it telegraphs the rest: "The prosecution’s rebuttal is, as one defence lawyer recently put it, 'a potent weapon.'... The lead prosecutor in the USA vs. Conrad Black et al trial in Chicago, Eric Sussman, did not make the most of this advantage. Even potent weapons need to be properly aimed to achieve maximum effect...."

Douglas Bell, in the Toronto Life Conrad Black trial blog, uses some colourful expressions to describe the media coverage of the trial's end and the deliberation's beginning.