Stevens Trial: The Epilogue
Roll Call reports:
The juror who was dismissed from the criminal trial of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) to attend the funeral of her father in California admitted Monday that her father had not died, and that she went to California to attend a horse race.
UPDATE: Roll Call now has additional info, and it gets even more bizarre:
Judge Emmet Sullivan suspended deliberations in Stevens' criminal trial on Oct. 23 upon being notified that the juror's father had died, and replaced her with an alternate juror on Oct. 27 when the court was unable to contact her.
But the juror — Marian Hinnant, a 52-year-old customer service worker at Avis car rental — appeared in court Monday and admitted that she had made up the story of her father's death.
Appearing disheveled and confused and brandishing a thick stack of dog-eared papers, Hinnant told the judge that in the spring she had purchased tickets to the Breeders' Cup event in Santa Anita on Oct. 24 and 25.
Hinnant then began to tell a convoluted story about criminal activity in the horse racing industry, alleging that her phone had been tapped and that someone she once worked with in the industry was involved in crime and drugs.
The judge attempted to dismiss her, but Hinnant continued to tell her tale, ultimately asking the judge, “Can I have a case of my own?”
Sullivan suggested that she take that up with the federal public defender, whom he had appointed to represent her at today's hearing.
Sullivan told her that he was simply concerned for her well-being, and that seeing that she was fine, he was satisfied that she would not have been able to complete deliberations with the rest of the jury. He did not suggest any sanction for her actions.
After Hinnant left the courtroom, Sullivan told the attorneys in Stevens' case that he had dismissed her because she was unable to continue to serve on the jury, and “what you heard today just reinforces the correctness of the court's decision.”
Robert Cary, one of Stevens' lawyers, said “we don't necessarily agree with the court's findings,” and the judge invited both sides to file briefs on the issue.
Outside the courthouse, Hinnant told the pack of reporters that followed her to the Metro that she believed Stevens was guilty, but that she also believed most other Members of Congress were guilty of crimes as well. “He didn't do anything any of the other Congressman and Senators hadn't done,” she said.
Sullivan had spoken with Hinnant Oct. 23 after she had said she could not continue, and the next morning he appeared to be overcome with emotion as he described that conversation in the courtroom.
He said that during his conversations with Hinnant — at that point known only as Juror 4 — “I extended our heartfelt sympathies to the juror and her family. ... That was paramount. That was more important than anything else in the conversation.”
“I told her that having lost my own father a couple of years ago, I knew what she was going through.”
After describing their conversations, Sullivan said, “I left it at that and told her godspeed.” At that point the judge appeared to become overwhelmed and stopped speaking. The courtroom fell silent and remained quiet for more than a minute.
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1
Nothing like being judged by a jury of your peers.
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2
I hope this is NOT the basis for a retrial...does anyone out there know?
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3
This does not increase my confidence in the jury system or the administration of the federal court system.
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4
But he wishes he were dead, if that helps.
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5
I doubt its grounds for a mistrial. Technically, the system prevailed. Had the liar stayed on the jury perhaps they would have been overly sympathetic to a fellow liar. Not to mention the potential for mischief (bribes) with a gambler on the jury. Yes I'd say the system has prevailed, despite the GOP's mission to politicize it.
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6
I'm not a lawyer, although I did stay at a Holiday In Express once. So I say no to the chance for retrial.
I would like to see retaliation against the horse-loving juror, however.
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7
I seriously doubt juror misconduct of this nature would affect the validity of the verdict, as she didn't participate in that verdict. She was replaced and the deliberations were re-started, just as if she'd actually been attending her own funeral. I suspect the judge shortly will make her wish she had.
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8
Is that what he meant when he insisted that he hadn't been convicted of anything? Because we all know that being found guilty in a trial and being convicted are two entirely different things, right?
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9
PD –
Generally a judgment of conviction isn't considered final while appeals are still available. It's an extremely technical dodge by an extremely despicable dodger.
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10
Isn't that the same as Palin saying the report that found she'd violated ethics rules proved she hadn't violated rules. The new conservative paradigm: Up is down and hot is cold.
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11
Palin's was cleared on some of the charges, so she said the report cleared her.
.
I mean, just think of all the laws she DIDN'T break, right? -
12
Oh COME ON what does it take for our judicial system to not f--k things up once in a while?
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13
“A conviction in my mind is when you finally had overruling of the motions made to set aside a verdict, or have a new trial and you're sentenced,” said the famously defiant Stevens on Friday. “I think that's the legal definition.”
Hardly suprising from the same guy who participated in this exchange while on the witness stand:
"And the chair is still at your house?" prosecutor Brenda Morris asked.
"Yes," Stevens said.
"How is that not a gift?"
"He bought that chair as a gift, but I refused it as a gift," Stevens said. "He put it there and said it was my chair. I told him I would not accept it as a gift. We have lots of things in our house that don't belong to us."
Playing to the jury, Morris appeared confused.
"So, if you say it's not a gift, it's not a gift?" she said.
"I refused it as a gift," Stevens replied. "I let him put it in our basement at his request."
Ted Stevens: Reality is Optional.
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14
KT - A good start. Now, work Ayers and Obama's aunt into it and you've got a green light. No promises, but Mel Gibson is interested.
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15
Well, to be fair, there was a horse in that race, Midshipmen, that I think is likely to win the Kentucky Derby next year. It's a Bob Baffert horse. So, remember, you heard it here first.
This nutjob, on the other hand, will likely be in the a padded cell instead of the paddock area of Chruchill Down, come the first Saturday in May.
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16
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