I really have to thank John Ryskamp for the post, because it induced me to look up the Chicago Tribune's gavel to gavel coverage of the Rezco trial, really very interesting, where the Trib reporters are actually churning out a well written news story every two to three hours or so. See link. It really made me respect the Chicago Tribune as a news source. The LA and NYTimes don't come out with this kind of careful reporting.
I work as a criminal defense lawyer in California, so these trials are interesting. I can understand what a murder or a drug sale is all about, but with these wire fraud / money laundering cases are always a bit hard to figure out whether they're really about crimes or just business as usual. They typically involve a bunch of innocuous mailings and phone calls that become criminal because there is some overriding nefarious purpose. Testimony like some guy coming into the alderman's office with a bag of money just doesn't seem to be there, and Rezco's case is no exception. As is typical with one of those cases, it's built around a shady star witness who's made some sort of deal with the government and in Rezco's case at least, seems to be living on pills of one kind or another.
Anyway, check it out and see if you can figure out what Rezco is supposed to have done bad. Because the newest dispatch is at the top, the closing argument runs "backwards" and it makes it even harder to follow. And it was a marathon too, a five hour speech by the U.S. Attorney and then something like five to six hours by the defense attorney... imagine having to sit through that as a juror at $35 a day.
Almost none of it's about Obama, by the way... some revelation! One interesting fact I didn't know. Rezco not only did fundraisers for Obama and Illinois governor Blagovich, both Dems, but did similar fundraisers for George W. Bush as well! Talk about playing both sides of the fence.
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