That's Just Wrong

Are you kidding me? Barry Bonds is due up and this guy heads out for a beer and some peanuts? As Bill Maher might say, "New rule: If you didn't see the historic home run hit, you don't get to keep the ball."

Winners and Losers

This Washington Post article reviews the performances of the various lawyers in the Enron case. It's hardly surprising that Skilling lawyer Daniel Petrocelli gets raves -- the combination of smarts, great preparation, resources, and then more resources should produce excellent lawyering. But the important point the article does not make, at least explicitly, is that in a criminal trial, even having the best lawyer in the room only takes you so far. The O.J. trial notwithstanding, facts is facts, and while lawyers can spin them, they can't change them.

Enronapalooza

It's been an Enron-fest in the blogosphere since the guilty verdicts against Skilling and Lay were announced around noon yesterday. Here is legal commentator Andrew Cohen's simple and straightforward take for those wanting a short and sweet explanation. For links to lots of articles from lots of places discussing the verdicts, head over to How Appealing. Lots-o-stuff also on the Wall Street Journal Law Blog and, of course, at the website of The Houston Chronicle.

After reading a good bit of this, especially the various articles quoting the jurors, I kept thinking two thoughts:

1) There's a good reason why defense lawyers rarely want their clients to testify. Sometimes, defendants believe they have no choice or, as may have been the case here (especially with Skilling), they believe that they can convince jurors simply by the force of their personality and arguments. But it very rarely works, and in all those cases when it doesn't work, the results are devastating.

2) The decision Richard Causey, Enron's former Chief Accounting Officer who was scheduled to be tried with Skilling and Lay, made just before trial to take a deal (he is looking at about seven years) looks awfully good right now. He will be sipping lemonade on his deck with his family before Skilling and Lay are finished even half of prison terms.

Our House Is a Very, Very, Very Fine House

I think I get it now. When the feds come into my house and tap my phone with no probable cause and no warrant, it is a constitutional necessity. When the feds come into his House with probable cause and a warrant, it is a constitutional crisis.

Never Enough

Here's the latest, and richly deserved, rip job on Barry Bonds. At least we now have scientific proof that character is inversely proportional to head size.

Nice Work If You Can Get It

Ever want to see what the contract of a big-time college basketball coach looks like? Here, courtesy of Sports Law Blog, is your chance. Thanks to the State of Indiana's public records law, the contract of new Indiana University hoops coach Kelvin Sampson is available for your perusal.

For some reason I am particularly struck by two things: First, despite giving Sampson a seven-figure compensation package, the University also has to provide him with the use of two -- two -- automobiles. Second, although the contract is stuffed with the usual legal mumbo-jumbo, the term "Sweet Sixteen" apparently has such a clear meaning that it is used (on page 15) without any further explanation or elaboration.

Turnabout

That's not a knife. This is a knife.

Hating Hate

I am with Andrew Sullivan on this one. I have never quite understood why, if I punch you in the nose, it matters whether I have a good, bad, or no reason for doing so. And, of course, given our constitutional protections on expression, the government should not be deciding whether my reasons are good or bad. To put it another way, I am allowed to hate you. I am not allowed to assault you.

The Only Opinion That Counts

The jury has begun deliberations in the trial of Jeff Skilling and Ken Lay. My prediction, unremarkable though it may be, is that both defendants will be found guilty on the majority, though probably not all, of the counts against them (28 for Skilling and 6 for Lay). Given all that this jury both brought to the case as Houstoun-area residents and then heard during the trial, I just don't see them finding that the two top guys -- the ones who made the most money of all -- did nothing wrong.

The jury will probably be a while, so feel free to add your thoughts and predictions.

Fool Gras

Oh, sure, guns have killed 127 people in Philadelphia thus far in 2006, including many children and one police officer. And voter turnout for yesterday's primary election was about 15 percent. And you can go to a restaurant or bar here and the guy next to you can spew known carcinogens into the air you breathe. But City Councilman Jack Kelly is focusing on a bigger issue: He wants to make Philadelphia safe for geese and ducks.

Kelly plans to introduce legislation soon that will ban the sale of foie gras in Philadelphia. "It's torture," Kelly is quoted as saying in this article in The Philadelphia Inquirer, which goes on to note Kelly's opposition to smoking bans in the same restaurants that might be selling foie gras. "As far as I know, the cigarette industry doesn't torture anybody," he said, displaying the crackerjack logical thinking that seems to pervade City Council here.

Quack, quack.

Read It and Weep

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Or not.

Revolving Door?

Here's an interesting take on yesterday's news that well-known conservative Judge Michael Luttig is leaving his seat on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to become Boeing's general counsel. Here is the key quote: "Judgeships should be for life. Any expectation by a judge that they will leave for private practice means that any of their decisions are suspect as currying
favor for a future job offer."

This overstates the case a bit, and, of course, the life tenure that federal judges hold cannot be turned into a life sentence. But job changes like Luttig's may happen more frequently in the years ahead. I don't know what the statistics would show, but my sense is that judges are being appointed at younger ages than used to be the case, when lawyers received such appointments only after legal careers of some note. That seems less common now, with current controversial appointee Brett Kavanaugh, who is 41 but who was first nominated at 38, being the most recent example of this trend.

How Many More?

The gun violence continues unabated in the City of Philadelphia, and this time a police officer was killed. Officer Gary Skerski, a 16-year-veteran, was fatally shot as he responded to a report that someone was robbing a bar. As of now, the killer remains at large.

Hardly a day goes by without reports of a shooting. Eleven Philadelphia officers have been shot in the past 25 months. Three officers have been shot at in the past three days alone. The police have shot more than a dozen people in 2006. And on it goes.

The pervasive level of gun violence is THE number one issue facing the City and its residents. Not the wage tax or business privilege tax. Not whether the population is dropping or whether the real estate market is cooling off. And certainly not whether -- God help us all -- Philadelphia makes a bid to host the 2016 Olympics.

I don't know what the answer is, but I do know that the political and business leaders who set the agenda in this city are not the ones getting shot. But they and those of us lucky enough to live in safer parts of the City are the ones who can ensure that the resources necessary to address this problem are provided -- especially to the police and to the residents of terrorized neighborhoods.

Enough.

End Game

The prosecution and the defense rested their cases yesterday in the Enron trial, and, the headline of this article notwithstanding, you don't need to be an expert to know that it all comes down to whether the jury believes the testimony of Jeff Skilling and Ken Lay. When defendants testify, it is almost always all about them.

From this distant perch, it doesn't look good for either defendant, and Lay in particular may want to beat the rush and place a toilet three feet from the bed, just to get used to the feeling. I have yet to see a single trial account that described his cross-examination as anything other than a decisive victory for prosecutors. Of course, they had a lot to work with, not least of which was Lay's repeated -- and ridiculous -- contention that Enron, a Fortune 10 corporation with thousands of employees, was done in by the unholy trinity of Andy Fastow, short sellers, and a few articles in The Wall Street Journal.

Closing arguments begin Monday.

The Inquisition, Let's Begin...

Am I the only one who finds it weird that someone who claims to be infallible on matters of faith, as well as so many who practice what they claim to be The One True Faith, are upset because some guy wrote a novel saying Jesus married and had children with Mary Magdalene?

The Pope needs to look on the bright side: At least Mary Magdalene was not using birth control.

It's Finally Over

The unfortunate exhibition known as the Zacarias Moussaoui trial is finally over. All that time, money, emotional energy, and who knows what else spent trying to execute a marginally sane (if that) man about whose role in the 9/11 attacks even those within the government could not agree. While I do not agree with those among the 9/11 family members who favored Moussaoui's execution, I can understand how their experiences led them to that position. But others seeking the death penalty -- especially those within our government representing we the people in the Moussaouri case -- sought a form of justice with which I am not, and hope never to be, familiar.

Sacrilege

Where's the outrage? What's next -- a remake of Casablanca?