Posted on 12/05/2007 4:44:31 PM PST by Libloather
Delay sought in feds' bribery trial
Jefferson team cites mounds of evidence Wednesday,
By Bruce Alpert
December 05, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Attorneys for Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, asked a federal judge Tuesday to delay the congressman's scheduled Jan. 16 public corruption trial, arguing that the volume of material produced by prosecutors -- including hours of secretly recorded conversations -- doesn't provide sufficient time for an adequate defense.
"The defendant's Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial and his right to counsel will be nothing but hollow promises if his lawyers are not accorded a fair opportunity to digest the vast amounts of material produced in discovery and to mount a full and vigorous defense," the filing said.
The defense team is asking U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis to delay the trial for four to six months.
**SNIP**
The Jefferson legal team said three attorneys are working on the defense and doing "everything within their power to prepare for trial." But they are facing not only thousands of records, but also hours of secretly recorded conversations and complicated legal appeals over matters never before adjudicated, such as the first-ever FBI raid of a congressional office, according to the legal brief.
Because the Virginia court has frozen many of the congressman's assets, the Jefferson brief said he "does not have the resources to pay for the lawyers he has, much less the kind of support that the case demands." The asset freeze was ordered by Ellis to ensure that the congressman has the resources to pay any fines imposed if he were to be found guilty.
**SNIP**
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
Dump a few - or just plead guilty. Jail looks the same either way he goes...
i guess in retrospect he needed a couple of more tanks from the national guard to get to his “frozen” assets.
Sounds like someone doesn't want this in the news during campaign season.
That’s ok because in 4-6 months, Hitlary will be in full swing. I like that timing much better.
Well crap ... when I first read the headline I thought that the MSM was trying to tie Tom Delay to Jefferson’s problems ...
Poor baby. Hey, William Jefferson (Democrat, Louisiana), actions have consequences. Blinded by that bribery stuff, huh?
I feel so badly about your situation, I just don't know what to do.
...You're not the only one
His house on Marango Street must be worth close to a million.
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