Saturday, May 24, 2008

Gettin' Down and Dirty on the Siegelman Appeal

Want to get heavily into the legal issues involved in the appeal of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman?

Two very interesting blog posts provide the opportunity to do just that.

Tommy Stevenson, of the Tuscaloosa News, has a splendid piece about the guts of the Siegelman appeal. Stevenson describes the tone of the appeal as both "outraged and sarcastic" and includes a link to the entire 99-page document. If you are a legal junkie like me, you will want to sink your teeth into this.

Stevenson notes four major sections in the appeal that outline key mistakes by U.S. Judge Mark Fuller. But perhaps the most interesting part of the appeal comes from Siegelman's First Amendment assertion that his sentence was enhanced because of out-of-court statements he made regarding the political nature of his prosecution.

The White Collar Crime Prof Blog picks up on the First Amendment argument and calls it "powerful and unique."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

One consequence of Siegelman including the 1st amendment issue in the appeal is that every attorney, except the intellectually dead, will be following this appeal closely. This means that it will be discussed at every happy hour and cocktail party around the country. This is not only a brilliant legal maneuver, but has to be one of the best PR moves ever.
jim gundlach - still can't get the Google/Bloger ID to work.