Friday, November 9, 2007

The Sentencing-Delay Matter

According to a CBC News report, Conrad Black's lawyers have asked for a delay of the sentencing, scheduled for November 30th, so as to have more time to reply to a prosecution pre-sentencing report. The report estimates that sentencing will take place in mid-December if such an extension is granted.

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It has been granted, but the extension was shorter than anticipated. The date of sentencing has been pushed back to December 10, according to a followup report posted at CBC.ca. "'I can accommodate that week,'." St. Eve said, according to a report."

Monday, November 5, 2007

Rule 29 Motions Turned Down (Except On One Count)

According to this CBC News report, Judge St. Eve has dismissed a ruling for a new trial, and evidently ruled that none of the charges, except one against Mark Kipnis, should be thrown out. Mr. Kipnis got acquitted of one mail-fraud charge. The report, which was a re-webbing of an Associated Press story by Mike Robinson, didn't specify whether or not Judge St. Eve specifically ruled on the 29s, but the acquittal suggests that she did. This report by Ameet Sachdev of the Chicago Tribune suggests more strongly that the judge did in fact rule on the 29s as well as requests for re-trial. So, the only hope for Conrad and the others for re-trial or more acquittals is in the appeals they have in the works.