The Sentence...Preliminaries

According to CTV NewsNet, Conrad Black has arrived at the courthouse, with his wife and daughter. He didn't say anything as he went in. Word is, his speech to the judge will be "brief," but such a term is hard to quantify in the case of Conrad Black.

Word is, Judge St. Eve has already decided on a sentence. After Conrad Black is sentenced, the other three will be too. It's almost a certainty that they'll all appeal. Bail, though, is questionable. According to Steve Skurka, bail requires a "substantial likelihood" that the appeal will succeed. According to his sources, this case doesn't meet that burden.

Paula Todd, also on CTV NewsNet, mentions that a victim-impact statement has been filed, although it is expected that the defense will argue that they haven't had sufficient time to read it.

CTV News has a webbed report on the day's events so far. At 11:02 AM ET, Jacob Frenkel speculated that the victim-impact statement wont' have much of an effect on the sentence, because (he presumes) the judge will remember that no victims appeared at trial.

According to BNN's Amanda Lang, the victim-impact statement - handed in late - will be dealt with first. The hearing, even not taking into account Conrad's speech, may take a few hours. She concurred that the important question that will be answered is whether or not Conrad rates bail.

BNN also had old Conrad Black biographer Peter C. Newman on. Mr. Newman speculated that Conrad's previous statement against the prosecutors will go against him, as will that consent decree. What he's watching for in any expression of remorse, or of at least regret. Pat Bolland point out that Conrad could offer to pay back something to Hollinger Int'l, which Mr. Newman said would help but not much. It may be too late for that. Mr. Newman also observed that David Radler's tactics were better than Conrad's. At the end of his segment, Mr. Newman pointed out that "you can't take the law into your own hands" when comparing Conrad Black with Robert Latimer. (Interestingly, that phrase is commonly applied to lynch mobs, not to outraged defendants.)

Back at CTV News, it was reported that the loss has been set at between 5 and 10 million dollars, meaning that the top sentence will not be applicable. Also, Conrad Black has never been convicted of a previous offense. Two levels in the sentencing count may have been added for "more than minimal planning." This suggests category A, for those not convicted of a previous offesne, level 22 (if more than minimal planning is added) or 23 (if the recently-proffered statement was accepted as an influence.) It wasn't said what sentence this point in the chart corresponds to.

David Akin reported that two levels were added to the base level of 20. One was added because Conrad was operating in Canada, implying that the pre-planning consideration has not been decided on yet. Maximum sentence is 35 years.

As of 11:31 AM ET, Eric Sussman is urging Judge St. Eve apply a serious sentence, through using the now-notorious E-mails. Csr. Skurka noted that the E-mails are not relevant to the charges that the jury voted "guilty" on.

Kate Wheeler just reported, at 11:35 AM ET, that the judge has ruled against the prosecutors with respect to their claim of the level of the fraud - it's going to be between 5 and 10 million. Also, she ruled that Csr. Sussman is bringing in points that should have been brought up at trial. According to Andrew Stoltmann, the prosecution needs a big sentence to consider it a win for them. (Later, Joan Crockatt noted that the Breeden Report did a lot more damage to her as a shareholder that Conrad Black did. She then compared, perhaps tongue in cheek, Richard Breeden to Lt. William Calley.)

The prosecution did win agreement from Judge St. Eve about the pre-planning issue. This adds two ticks on the chart. Also, the judge earlier rejected a delay for the defense to respond to the proffered victim-impact statement. She did, though, agree to use the less harsh 2000 sentence guidelines. As of 11:49 AM ET, Ms. Wheeler reported that the judge remarked that the civil cases pending against Conrad Black are irrelevant to this matter, and vice-versa.

As of 11:51 AM ET, Mr. Akin reported that Judge St. Eve noted that Mr. Radler swung a lot of authority himself, and Conrad's position as CEO did not mean that he knew of everything. But, she also decided that his role was more than minor.

As of 11:56 AM: Judge St. Eve has set the sentence range as between 6 and 8 years after going through the above-mentioned chart. Conrad is facing that amount of time, and will have to serve 85% of it. Ms. Todd noted later that this 6-to-8 years is a guideline, but Csr. Frenkel noted that, say, 7 years is less serious that what the prosecution was expecting. He also said that the prosecution can appeal the sentence as being too light. He also wondered out loud if the prosectution is taking some of this personally, as they did win a conviction.

According to Mr. Akin, as of 12:04 PM, the defense is arguing that Conrad Black is more than a mere top manager, as he built the company from the ground up. They also noted that his employees liked him well, and that there was a real business - not just a "shell game." He also noted that the present Conservative government has rejected all pleas from Canadians convicted in foreign courts to serve their time in Canada under Canadian rules. That's because, as Ms. Todd noted later, they've decided that a Canadian who got due process rights in another democratic country has no pressing need for repatriation. She also noted that Conrad is no longer a Canadian citizen.

David Akin reported that, with regard to the obstruction-of-justice charge, Edward Greenspan is arguing that Conrad was just reclaiming his personal property. He returned it later. [Note: This obstruction charge is over and above the 6-to-8 years noted above.] Ms. Crockatt noted that Conrad's "defiance" is largely in place to square with his appeal.

Mr. Akin also noted, as of 12:18 PM ET, that the defense has brought in the Rick Mercer show sketch in which Conrad appeared as evidence that he has a sense of humor. Also, the usual philanthropic arguments were made - and the defense has read a letter from Sir Elton John defending Conrad's character. (Ms. Todd later speculated that Conrad's attempt to appeal to the Caandian public may have ticked off Americans.)

Another letter read in court was from Laura Ingram, a cancer survivor. Also brought to the judge's notice was Conrad's support of Jewish causes. Yet another letter was sent in by Brian Mulroney, and read in court. A further letter read in court was from someone unknown who got a ride from Conrad Black when he was feeling ill.

On CBC News, Jacquie McNish noted that it would be untoward for Conrad to make a long statement, and opined that Conrad believes that he was persecuted because he has inadequate self-questioning skills. Ms. McNish further noted that Conrad identifies with famous people who have been stricken in some way. She also believes that he'll get through prison by writing. (CBC.ca has a written report on the sentencing guideline arrived at.)

Over at CTV News, Ms. Todd noted that Conrad is insinuating blame again - seemingly, regarding the bad press he had received - and the judge has noted that he seems to be avoiding responsibility for his own actions. Like others, Ms. Todd counterpointed Conrad Black with Martha Stewart. As of 12:44 PM ET, Mr. Akin reported that the defense is stressing Conrad's "humble beginnings." Csr. Frenkel noted four minutes later that these readings are par for the course at this stage in the game.

As of 12:55 PM ET, Ms. Crockatt noted that Barbara had claimed her 'extravagance knows no bounds' remark was meant as a joke, but considers that explanation to not be that credible - that Barbara had intended at the time to come up with a striking quote at the time, and that it blew back on her. Mr. Akin made a side note that Conrad's "extraordinary life" is being made evident in those character letters.

As of 1:05 PM ET, Mr. Akin remarked that the prosecution set up a "war room" in which all of Conrad's defiant remarks to the media were posted. Csr. Sussman has just tried to bring those remarks into the sentencing hearing, claiming that Conrad has showed "open contempt" for the process and that he was nefarious enough to defraud people he knew. He also claimed that Sir Elton doesn't know Conrad all that well (suggesting that Sir Elton was asked to dash off a letter and did so as an act of charity.) Mr. Akin added later that Sir Elton's mention of Conrad's charitable nature was based upon Conrad using corporate funds to make a donation. Csr. Frenkel noted that the open-contempt point may resonate with Judge St. Eve, as she used to be a prosecutor, but she hasn't shown any signs that she is pro-prosecution.

Ms. Todd noted that the decision in the 1982 SEC matter, which she read, contained a very definite warning to Conrad to steer clear of the American justice system. Csr. Frenkel noted, though, that the 1982 matter was at the civil level. Thus, it's not relevant to this matter, but may very well be relevant to further civil proceedings. Later, Ms. Todd noted that the judge is trying to be moderate so as to avoid having her decisions overturned in an appeals court. As of 1:16 PM ET, Mr. Akin reported that the procesution is trying to debunk the picture presented by the defense. They're also hammering away at the lack-of-remorse factor.

As of 1:21 PM ET, David Morton noted that the use of the sentencing guidelines makes the sentencing decision "bullet-proof" at the appeals level (from both sides.) The court is on break as of 1:25 PM ET. During that break, Ms. Crockatt made the point that Hollinger shares were undervalued because of the "Conrad Black factor" - to be specific, because Conrad was too frenetic a deal-maker and cut too many complicated deals. The analysts have difficulty figuring out what he was up to at any point in time.