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Protests too loud and strong
In a lengthy and detailed statement, Leura G. Canary, the U. S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama, lashed out at the media for "calling into question, the legitimacy of the motivation" for the prosecution of Siegelman and Richard Scrushy. Canary's statement asserts "that career prosecutors, not political appointees" handled the investigatyion after she recused herself from the case. However, her recusal is not the focal point of the matter at hand. The career prosecutors involved in the Siegelman case are very competent and widely respected. One of them was the lead prosecutor in the case involving former Gov. Guy Hunt, a Republican, who was prosecuted by State Attorney Jimmy Evans, a Democrat. The prosecution led to Hunt's conviction and removal from office. That lead prosecutor recommended that Hunt serve no time in prison. He didn't. But a description of competent and respected does not remove the fact that all assistant U. S. Attorneys in Montgomery continue to work for Canary and the U. S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the latter now being questioned by Congress about its integrity and suspected political influence in several prosecutions. Serious questions began to arise about the Siegelman case several weeks ago when a Republican lawyer, who once worked on the campaigns of Gov. Bob Riley, gave a sworm affidavit alleging she was part of a conversation among Riley campaign staffers just before the 2002 general election during which it was suggested that Karl Rove and DOJ were involved in a plot to "take care of Siegelman." The House Judiciary Committee, in a letter to the DOJ, recently requested documents pertaining to three prosecutions it called "suspect," included the Siegelman case. The committee said in the letter that these were charges that a recent study had identified as "politically based prosecutions." The study the committee cited noted that there have been several irregularities in the case against Siegelman. "In 2004 charges against Mr. Siegelman were dropped by the U. S. Attorney in the Northern District of Alabama before the case went to trial, and the judge harshly rebuked prosecutors bringing the case. In the case in the Middle District where Siegelman was convicted there have been allegations of jury tampering, the committee letter stated. Also 44 former state attorneys general have asked Congress to investigate whether politics at the DOJ influcenced the Siegelman prosecution. The group was primarily democratic, but several Republicans signed the letter. The Siegelman conspiracy theory began growing legs after GOP lawyer Dana Jill Simpson from Rainsville made her statement under oath and it was leaked to the media. More attention was created when Time and The New York Times published her comments and a Times editorial subsequently called on Congress to investigate. I continue to remain skeptical about the affidavit, however, the trial left many unanswered questions, particularly how a federal judge could permit what I believe was serious misconduct by some members of the jury hearing the case. However, a recent Mobile Press- Register, University of South Alabama poll shows that a majority of Alabamians do not believe there was politics involved in the case.
Bob Martin is editor and publisher of The Montgomery Independent. E-mail him at: bob@montgomeryindependent.com
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