Newly Discovered Prosecutorial Misconduct

The New York Times reports today about prosecutorial misconduct by the Rove Republican Racket in the political persecution of Governor Don Siegelman.

Lawyers for Donald E. Siegelman, the former Alabama governor convicted on corruption charges in 2006, have asked for a new trial based on “newly discovered evidence” of prosecutorial misconduct in the case....The motions argue that the government failed to turn over information that could have helped the defendants’ cases, and that the testimony of an important witness, Nick Bailey, a former Siegelman aide, was shaped by repeated coaching sessions with prosecutors. The brief suggests that prosecutors had threatened him implicitly to “enhance his need to cooperate.”

You can read the full article here.

UPDATE: Nebraska lets Feds Keep $40 K Jackpot

As we written about the Obad case in Nebraska, here is the latest update:

The Nebraska Supreme Court has upheld a district court ruling that kept a New York man from getting back more than $40,000 seized by a trooper during an interstate traffic stop. Louis Obad of Lakeview, N.Y., argued that a state trooper wrongfully took the money, which Obad was carrying in his rental car in 2008. The state suspected it was drug money and turned it over to the U.S. Marshals Service. Obad was never convicted of a crime connected to the incident.Former District Judge Kristine Cecava of Cheyenne County ordered in March 2008 that the $43,584 be returned to Obad. But Cecava vacated the order two months later, saying that the money was in the possession of the federal government and that she had no jurisdiction over the matter. In a decision released Friday, the high court upheld Cecava's decision that she had no jurisdiction. Neither Obad nor his attorney, Don Miller of Sidney, immediately returned phone messages from The Associated Press.

Diaz Fights Back

The Rove Republican Racket went after Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz not once, but twice. And they lost both times.

Diaz is now fighting back. He was in Washington DC yesterday.

The Jackson Clarion Ledger writes:

Former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz Jr. called on Congress and the Obama administration Friday to step up investigations into what he called "political prosecutions" by the U.S. Justice Department. "There are political prosecutions that have gone on around the country," Diaz said. "Innocent men are sitting in federal prisons. ...It's time for us to do something." Diaz was acquitted of corruption charges in a 2005 federal trial and later on federal tax evasion charges. He joined other targets of recent federal investigations, along with their families and attorneys, at a forum in Washington to press for action against "selective investigations" by federal prosecutors under the Bush administration.

Let's see how U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Congress react.

Read the full article here.

Time, Truth, and a Load of Bull

Talk about prosecutorial bull!

In a stunning admission, U.S. prosecutors in Mississippi filed a motion on Monday asking a U.S. District Court to prevent a judge from defending himself in a corruption case.

From today's Associated Press:

Mississippi Judge Bobby DeLaughter, facing federal corruption charges, has said his rulings followed the letter of the law. Federal prosecutors don't want a jury to hear that when his trial begins in August....Prosecutors asked a judge in a pretrial motion filed Monday to block DeLaughter from giving any testimony that his rulings followed the law, claiming it would take weeks during the trial.

So the prosecutors are worried about TIME? What they're really worried about is the whole TRUTH and nothing but the TRUTH!

The corruption case rests on the fact that prosecutors, part of the Rove Racket, allege that DeLaughter made corrupt and bias rulings because of a bribery scheme involving a former clerk. Now they won't let him argue that the rulings were sound.

Read the full article here.

Will Holder Listen?

According to today's post in the blog Legal Schnauzer, Paul Minor's Attorney has sent U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder a letter requesting his release and a review of his case based on what has been done in Alaska (see post below).

As you may recall, the Rove Republican Racket in Mississippi targeted and prosecuted Democratic fundraiser Paul Minor twice and convicted him by stretching the law. Currently, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals is reviewing the case.

Here is a main paragraph from the letter written by Minor's attorney Hiram Eastland:

What has emerged in recent months is a troubling pattern and practice on the part of the Criminal Division under the direction of William Welch to allow ground level prosecutors to overreach in their legal theories, use questionable tactics to obtain evidence, and mislead, withhold, and manipulate trial material in order to further blatantly improper prosecutions.

Alaska Aftermath

Main Justice posted a story on how the Rove Racket federal prosecutors involved in Senator Ted Stevens' case that was dismissed due to prosecutorial misconduct have been reassigned. In addition, Main Justice reports that the DOJ is seeking the release of two politicians in Alaska who were also victims of prosecutorial misconduct linked to the same dynamic duo.

Here's an excerpt. Full article can be read here.

Former Public Integrity Section prosecutors Nicholas Marsh and Edward Sullivan, who are under investigation for their handling of the Ted Stevens case and other Alaska public corruption probes, have been placed in one of the Justice Department’s lesser-known quarters, the Office of International Affairs (OIA), according to two people familiar with the move.

As The Washington Post first reported...the prosecutors were given notice of their reassignment on June 4, the same day Justice urged a federal appeals court to release from prison two Alaska legislators convicted of bribery and extortion. In a motion filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, Justice lawyers asked the panel to remand the cases of former Alaska state representatives Victor Kohring and Peter Kott for further proceedings. As in the case of former Alaska Sen. Stevens, the department lawyers told the court they had discovered documents that should have been disclosed to defense counsel prior to trial.

Goodbye Alice!

Breaking News: Alice H. Martin, U.S. Attorney and the Patron Saint of the Rove Republican Racket in Northern Alabama is resigning this Friday.

Looks like former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman may have a real shot at justice over politics.

Read the full story here. Read our previous post on Alice here.