O/T - Judge Declares Mistrial in Clemens Case

[canjond]

Details to come...

[sportscardpete]

Something about the evidence they shouldn't have used?

[canjond]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The judge declared a mistrial in baseball star Roger Clemens' perjury trial over inadmissible evidence shown to jurors. (I believe this was testimony of Pettitte's wife).

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said Clemens could not be assured a fair trial after prosecutors showed jurors evidence against his orders in the second day of testimony.

Walton scheduled a Sept. 2 hearing to determine whether to hold a new trial.

[sportscardpete]

Thanks for the heads up!


This helps too:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/67...lares-mistrial

[Exhibitman]

That's a good judge! Alllowing garbage like that to happen can make a huge mess. I had something very similar happen on the very 1st case I was helping to try (I was 2nd chair in a commercial case). There had been allegations of drug use by the sales rep from our client by a terminated distributor who was suing for damages for wrongful termination of his distributorship. We'd done extensive discovery on the point--even taken the plaintiff to court successfully to get him ordered to divulge the evidence--the plaintiff gave us no information, and we made a motion before trial to exclude evidence not revealed in discovery, which the judge granted. The plaintiff's CEO then told a sordid story of alleged drug use by the defendant's sales rep, one that he'd never disclosed in discovery right on the issue, and said his confronting the sales rep was the reason for the termination. Our judge let it go and the jury hammered the defense with a huge verdict. It was reversed on appeal because of the discovery orders and failure to disclose, but what a nightmare.

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by canjond

Walton scheduled a Sept. 2 hearing to determine whether to hold a new trial.

Clearly they should waste more taxpayer's money

[calvindog]

Disgraceful. Such a waste of money at this point.

[LanceRoten]

Time to give it up and move on. This version of the witch hunt is just getting more and more embarrassing for the governement . Bigger fish to fry guys. Debt, deficit, wars that are unwinnable. Much bigger probs in the world.

[WhenItWasAHobby]

Originally Posted by LanceRoten

Time to give it up and move on. This version of the witch hunt is just getting more and more embarrassing for the governement . Bigger fish to fry guys. Debt, deficit, wars that are unwinnable. Much bigger probs in the world.

In my opinion, our legal system was gotten very lax regarding the sanctity of truth and people who commit perjury rarely get punished and as a result have made a mockery of our judicial system and this ultimately victimizes innocent people.

Also, if Clemens' attorney decides to pursue the double-jeopardy hearing and gets Clemens acquitted, that to me does nothing to help his credibility and thus the cloud of unethical behavior still looms and his chances of going to the Hall are greatly diminished in my opinion.

One could also argue that this whole spectacle is a better economic stimulus package than any Washington lawmaker could ever conceive of.

[tbob]

Apparently the Government's attorney slept through the first day of law school He should have known better than to try to use evidence ruled inadmissible to bolster his evidence. Dumb...

[autograf]

WASTE OF MONEY......if everyone hasn't figured out that pretty much everyone is juicing now.....baseball....bicyclists....runners....etc.. ...then someone hasn't turned on the news in a while.....

[chaddurbin]

bad streak for high profile prosecutions.

welcome to the hof roger clemens (not 1st ballot).

[teetwoohsix]

Originally Posted by LanceRoten

Time to give it up and move on. This version of the witch hunt is just getting more and more embarrassing for the governement . Bigger fish to fry guys. Debt, deficit, wars that are unwinnable. Much bigger probs in the world.

+1 Paying more attention to "Fast & Furious" right now..........

[David Atkatz]

Originally Posted by LanceRoten

Time to give it up and move on. This version of the witch hunt is just getting more and more embarrassing for the governement . Bigger fish to fry guys. Debt, deficit, wars that are unwinnable. Much bigger probs in the world.

Wrong. The Romans understood the importance of bread and circuses. People need entertainment. And many, many, people will enjoy seeing Clemens' fat, track-marked ass in the slammer.

[packs]

Why would a lawyer disregard an order from a judge like this? Should lose his job.

[Kenny Cole]

Poor lawyering at best, sounds more like a knowing violation of the Court's order. Either way, a pretty sad display. Around here, the fed's conviction rate is around 95%, most of which they keep on appeal. If this is any indication of how the feds treat cases there, I suspect that the conviction rate is lower and that the reversal rate is higher. What a waste of time and money.

[calvindog]

Here's an old truth about the trial business: behind every acquittal is an incompetent prosecutor. Today is no different.

[Peter_Spaeth]

I suspect he will be retried. The prosecutors should have been more careful but that evidence was almost certainly coming in on rebuttal anyhow because the defense would have attacked Pettite's credibility.

[calvindog]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I suspect he will be retried. The prosecutors should have been more careful but that evidence was almost certainly coming in on rebuttal anyhow because the defense would have attacked Pettite's credibility.

That won't be a basis to allow a retrial to go forward. An order is an order and the prosecutors were idiots and overzealous. This is what prosecutors are. They're always looking for the next job, hoping to use a high-profile conviction to further their goals.

[Peter_Spaeth]

And all defense attorneys, naturally, are extremely scrupulous.

[calvindog]

No, but we're not responsible for charging people with crimes or requesting punishment. We also don't have the constitutional requirement to turn over exculpatory information about our case. So, defense lawyers aren't held to the same standard as prosecutors. Too often prosecutors are focused on just winning and not dispensing justice.

[tbob]

Originally Posted by calvindog

No, but we're not responsible for charging people with crimes or requesting punishment. We also don't have the constitutional requirement to turn over exculpatory information about our case. So, defense lawyers aren't held to the same standard as prosecutors. Too often prosecutors are focused on just winning and not dispensing justice.

+1. Well said.

[ls7plus]

Originally Posted by calvindog

That won't be a basis to allow a retrial to go forward. An order is an order and the prosecutors were idiots and overzealous. This is what prosecutors are. They're always looking for the next job, hoping to use a high-profile conviction to further their goals.

I found Jeff's comment especially interesting in light of what our Michigan case law states their duty to be: to see that the interests of justice are served, and not simply to gain a conviction. In more than 30 years of practice in appellate law, both civil and criminal, I can't recall even a single prosecutor who conducted himself in that manner. Rather, their approach has unfailingly been to gain a conviction at any cost, and I'm sure their promotions and pay hikes are linked to their conviction rates (as well, of course, as their political ambitions). Perhaps this was just one more example of such motivation at work.

And with regard to Peter's comment, let me state that I've always felt that my role on the defense side is to protect the integrity of the system; to keep it not only intact but vibrant, vital and alive, in order that the first innocent among us to be wrongfully brought up on criminal charges will have all of the protections of his rights the system was intended to afford to him.

Best wishes,

Larry

[ls7plus]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

That's a good judge! Alllowing garbage like that to happen can make a huge mess. I had something very similar happen on the very 1st case I was helping to try (I was 2nd chair in a commercial case). There had been allegations of drug use by the sales rep from our client by a terminated distributor who was suing for damages for wrongful termination of his distributorship. We'd done extensive discovery on the point--even taken the plaintiff to court successfully to get him ordered to divulge the evidence--the plaintiff gave us no information, and we made a motion before trial to exclude evidence not revealed in discovery, which the judge granted. The plaintiff's CEO then told a sordid story of alleged drug use by the defendant's sales rep, one that he'd never disclosed in discovery right on the issue, and said his confronting the sales rep was the reason for the termination. Our judge let it go and the jury hammered the defense with a huge verdict. It was reversed on appeal because of the discovery orders and failure to disclose, but what a nightmare.

Isn't it constantly amazing, Adam, that the magnitude of the stakes involved in the litigation is almost always directly corrolated to the nastiness of the tricks pulled by the litigants in seeking to create whatever advantage they can. I remember we had some truly serious damages in a medical malpractice case, and the defendant physician, realizing he was in serious trouble, took it upon himself to change/falsify his medicat treatment records pertaining to the plaintiff, with the intention of letting himself off the hook. Unfortunately, this particular defendant doctor had forgotten that he had previously given a complete copy of the records in their original, unaltered form to the plaintiff/patient shortly before suit was brought. Needless to say, we had little difficulty insettling that one to our advantage!

May your practice be capitivating and rewarding, and not tedious and boring.

All the best,

Larry