Last February, I predicted that Richard Scrushy would easily be convicted in his federal trial. However, today, a federal jury acquitted him of violating the evil Sarbanes-Oxley Act. From what I can tell, it seems to be a case of jury nullification. Scrushy was popular in the black community of Birmingham, Alabama, and about half the jury was black.
However, I am always glad to see U.S. attorneys lose their cases, especially since they win more than 97 percent of them, most people being forced to plead guilty. In a better world, there would not be a vast federal criminal system.
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Simply amazing! Had he been tried anywhere else, he would have been convicted. I am surprised that the prosecution didn’t try the case somewhere else, or attempt to do so (did they try venue change?).
As for the verdict, I’m very surprised. I am sure the jury thought that it wasn’t just Scrushy who was at fault, and it considered the injustice of the government letting guilty people go free in order to get him. Would predominantly black juries in the South be more sensitive to these types of activities? I’d think so.
Scrushy used his two-year jury-tampering efforts to great effect, and it overcame the unfair advantages that the feds have. Who’da thunk it? Sure, those efforts were sleazy–his TV show, his church membership, his strategic donations, etc.–but are they any sleazier than federal prosecutors making deals with Scrushy’s cronies to get them to witness against him?
I call Scrushy the Medicare Millionaire. Take away Medicare and Medicaid, and HealthSouth would never have grown to the size that it did, and therefore the corrupting tendencies that can accompany wealth would not have been as great. Now the feds *really* need a scalp in order to legitimize Sarbanes-Oxley, and I’d hate to be the next guy on their hit list. Good for Scrushy to have put them in that position
It will be interesting to see if they try him again (double jeopardy) for the same crime.
Don’t be silly. The 5th ammedndment protects against double jeopardy.
Oops. Sorry. Looks like I was a few days late with this comment.
I suspect that advertising jury nullification (fija.org) might be far more effective at increasing liberty over a lot of the party games.
Jury nullification! Praise Jefferson if true.
One reason to wait eagerly for jury duty… to practice some nullification, hehehe.
averros:
Be careful – do not underestimate the vindictiveness of the Federal “Justice?” System. You might want to read what happened to Laura Kriho when she chose to hang a jury using jury nullification. Check this link.
http://www.ndsn.org/DEC96/KRIHO.html
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