Final Media Roundup: News and Reactions

The Conrad Black trial, as well as the trial of the other three defendants, is now over except for Conrad Black's bail hearing and the sentencing. The latter is scheduled for November 30th, and the bail hearing for Conrad Black is set for next Thursday. All four defendants were found guilty of counts 1, 6 and 7 in the indictment, and Conrad Black was also found guilty of the obstruction-of justice charge. The first three counts pertained to the non-compete payments associated with the sale of newspapers from American Publishing to Horizon Publishing.

These reports have been selected from the slew of the ones just issued, with a bias towards the regulars on the trial beat. Since the trial is over, with those two exceptions mentioned above, the entries in this blog will be slowing to a trickle. To those who have read it, I thank you all for stopping by. To the commenters, especially "nala" and those anonymous ones which I couldn't quite place, it was enjoyable reading, and mostly responding, to them.

Here is a selected list of the media reports on the outcome of the trial:

1. The indefatigable Paul Waldie, along with relative newcomer Tara Perkins, have written a report that covers the verdict; the defendants' reaction to it; the potential sentence of 35 years and a $1 million fine for Conrad Black; statements from both Eddie Greenspan and Edward Genson, which contained a public notice that Conrad will file an appeal; a declining of the opportunity to talk afterward by Conrad himself; the obervation that this case represents a "huge victory" for Eric Sussman and the others; and, a note that Conrad has waived his right to a jury assessment in the forfeiture matter. This report also contains several links to related articles, and the Globe's Conrad Black section has more.

2. The National Post has several stories on the trial, accessible from its home page today and from the Financial Post's Conrad Black trial portal page, which should be a more durable entry point. The main report, by Mary Vallis, also carries the verdict, potential sentence for Conrad, statements from both of his chief co-counsels, and the custody hearing. It also carries part of the statement made by Patrick J. Fitzgerald. There are also comments from a few observers, as well as some background.

3. Another regular, the reliable Romina Maurino, has written an extensive report entitled "Black to appeal fraud and obstruction convictions, lawyer says." Her report goes into some detail about Conrad's reaction to the verdict, and also mentions that the total amount covered by the charges for which convictions were gotten is US$3.5 million. The rest of the her report recaps the case, has more details on the first part of the bail hearing, and goes through the verdict count by count, defendant by defendant.

4. The report webbed by CTV News covers all the events of the day, and quotes Patrick J. Fitzgerald's intent to pursue 188 to 235 months' worth of sentence for Conrad Black. On the right hand side is a double-digit number of links to broadbanded video clips covering the trial. Several trial watchers, including Paula Todd, are quoted in it.

5. CBC News has a report out also. In addition to including the main parts of the story, it also mentions that the July 19th date for the custody hearing was set at the request of Csr. Greenspan. After summarizing the case, it quotes an expert who brings up the complicated nature of it.

6. The Toronto Star's special Conrad Black section has several stories and columns relating to the verdict.

7. The report by Ameet Sachdev of the Chicago Tribune notes that Conrad intends to return to Toronto to wait for the sentencing hearing, but has agreed to surrender his British passport until his custody hearing is over.

8. The report co-written by another regular, "Day One 'er" Mary Wisniewski, starts off with: "In a brutal downfall, former media tycoon Conrad Black will be going from a mansion to a prison cell as a jury on Friday convicted him of three counts of mail fraud and one count of obstruction of justice as part of a scam to rip off shareholders." It notes that none of the defendants cried when the verdict was read; neither did Barbara nor Alana.

9. The heavily-updated Bloomberg report, by Andrew Harris and Joe Schneider, has a thorough recap of both the prosecution's and defense's cases after reporting on the verdict itself.

10. Andrew Stern, the "Day One'er" from Reuters, covers the entire day's events in his report.

11. Mike Robinson is back on the trial beat for the Associated Press, as webbed by Forbes.com. His extensive report includes reactions from two experts, both veteran trial-watchers.

12. Andrew Clark of the Guardian describes Conrad looking "pale and drawn" as the verdict was read out. He also includes this description of Barbara and Alana at the same time: "Shielded by a US marshal, Black's wife, Barbara Amiel, leant over her grimacing husband with words of comfort while Black's daughter, Alana, glared straight ahead with her arms folded across her chest." An expert is quited in it, and it ends with a description of Conrad Black as he arrived at the Chicago courthouse at about 10 AM CT, or 11 AM ET.

13. A special episode of The Verdict was devoted to the Conrad Black trial. One of the first guests was Tom Bower, who appeared after a jury expert and a former prosecutor did. Peter C. Newman was another guest. It will be broadbanded at about 10:30 PM, and will be available until about 10:30 PM on July 14th.

14. Maclean's has prepared a roundup of media reactions from around the globe.

15. The Times Online has webbed James Bone's report, which mentions that Lord Black no longer has the right to sit as a Tory in the House of Lords.

16. Ms. Romino has written a capsule biography of Conrad Black which starts with the verdict and ends with a couple of commenters on his character.

17. Another profile has been written by Stephen Foley of the Independent, which presents Conrad's tragic flaw as the need to be cleverer than anyone.

18. Jacquie McNish, in the Globe, fingers Conrad Black as too proud for his own good - the type of pride that goes with blaming others when things go wrong.

19. The Guardian has webbed two opinion pieces in the "Comment Is Free" section: one contains in its end a plea for a law that would strip peers who become "serious convicts" of their titles; the second, by Kim Fletcher, says that Conrad isn't as bad as Robert Maxwell was.

20. Janet Whitman, of the New York Post, has written a report entitled "Black Bagged: Guilty on 4 Counts; Faces 35 Years In Jail."

21. Both Peter Worthington and Joe Warmington are columnists who have intermittently covered the trial. Mr. Worthington's reaction to the verdict consists of his impressions of the major participants and events in the trial. At its end, he invites the reader to decide for him- or herself whether justice has been done. Mr. Warmington begins by describing the reaction in the courtroom as the verdict was read out, including Conrad Black's, and then quotes from the statement by Patrick J. Fitzgerald. He end by describing the bail hearing, and discussing the likely sentence.

22. Susan Berger, as webbed by CBC News, has a report on the verdict reading as well.


If you would like to explore further, a Google news link, entitled "Conrad Black trial links for today," will call up quite a few.

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Mark Steyn, in his Maclean's Conrad Black trial blog, ends the post-sentencing-day-announcement post with this sentence: "Truly, the ways of US justice are a wonder to behold."

Douglas Bell, in the Toronto Life Conrad Black trial blog, has written an eyewitness account of the verdict being read, with a little perspective at the end of it.

The third media blogger regularly featured in this space, Matthew McClearn, has written for the Canadian Business Black trial blog a summing-up entitled "Nemesis" which recounts the initial part of Conrad Black's custody/bail hearing after the verdict was delivered.

The entry in the "Black Board" that's devoted to the verdict excerpts material found in another Post blog, "Posted," and itemizes the verdict for each defendant and each of the charges.

Finally, Steve Skurka has written a reflective summing-up entry in "The Crime Sheet" which in part details how he came to terms with his erroneous prediction of the outcome.