Posted on 06/12/2009 5:05:45 PM PDT by Libloather
Jury Seated In William Jefferson Trial
Opening Statements Set To Happen Tuesday
UPDATED: 5:14 pm CDT June 11, 2009
ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- A jury of eight women and four men was selected Thursday afternoon to hear the case against former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson.
Judge T.S. Ellis seated the panel from a pool of 100 people. The jury includes eight white members and four African-Americans.
Of the four alternate jurors, three are white and one is African-American.
The racial makeup of the jury has been closely watched since the selection of the U.S. District Court in Alexandria as the venue for the case.
Jefferson's legal team has suggested federal prosecutors sought out a white, conservative-leaning setting for the trial. Prosecutors have argued that northern Virginia is appropriate because that is where Jefferson was recorded on videotape allegedly accepting bribes.
WDSU reported earlier this week that of the pool of 100, there were only nine African-American potential jurors.
(Excerpt) Read more at wdsu.com ...
Will that make the RAT less guilty?
That is only two fewer than the 11% proportion of the population that they represent. Also, four of them were selected so the jury is now 33% black. That is a gross overrepresentation. There should be only one or two at most on the jury, since we are playing by the numbers.
Another reason why I come here to find out what is REALLY going on in the World.
I guess the Lame Stream Media has somehow "overlooked" this important case? RIGHT!!
Will be looking for any that does report on Cold Cash for the absence of his party affiliation.
Absolutely no "Culture of Corruption" in the DemoRat party!!!
In fact, as a Democrat, he might even find his way back to Congress.
Basically it's saying that if he's convicicted it's a racist verdict.
Do we eveer hear this about a white defenddant?
You haven't seen HALF of this soap opera. Try an FR keyword search for Jefferson. There is a big picture.
The FBI began investigating Jefferson in March 2005 stemming from accusations made by the witness, a Virginia resident who owns an investment firm.
He told the FBI that he was “a victim of a fraud and bribery scheme” involving Jefferson; Vernon Jackson, CEO of the Louisville, Kentucky-based company iGate; and Brett Pfeffer, the president of the investment firm owned by the unnamed witness and a former Jefferson aide.
According to the affidavit, Jefferson had asked the witness for a percentage ownership interest in his Nigerian broadband company in exchange for the congressman “using his official acts to support the the Nigerian business venture.”
Guilty pleas
Jackson pleaded guilty in federal court earlier this month to bribing the congressman with more than $400,000 in payments, company stock and a share of the profits in order to promote iGate’s high-tech business ventures in Africa. (Full story)
Pfeffer, of Herndon, Virginia, pleaded guilty in January to aiding and abetting bribery of a public official.
Both have agreed to cooperate with authorities as part of their plea agreements.
The affidavit states Jefferson “attempted to use his position as a United States Congressman” to promote other iGate business ventures in Nigeria, Ghana and possibly other African nations.
“In exchange for his official acts supporting the proposed business ventures,” the affidavit said, Jefferson has received a 30 percent equity stake in the witness’ Nigerian company and more than $400,000 in payments from iGate.
The 30 percent equity, in the form of stocks, was placed in the name of a Nigerian limited liability corporation held by the congressman’s children, the affidavit said.
The cloud over Jefferson comes as Democratic leaders have been attacking what they call a “culture of corruption” surrounding the Republican leadership in Congress.
With midterm elections in November, Democrats are trying to highlight GOP ties to the influence-peddling investigation surrounding lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the indictment of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay in a Texas court, and last year’s guilty plea of California Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, now serving an eight-year stretch for taking bribes from defense contractors.
In a news conference last week, Jefferson said he was innocent and that he would remain in office while he fights any charges. (Full story)
“I wish to say emphatically that in all of my actions that are here under scrutiny, that I have never intended to dishonor my office, or you, the public, and I certainly did not sell my office,” Jefferson told reporters.
Suppose he is convicted. Four out of nine available blacks were selected for the jury and all four of them voted to convict. So those four are racists. Extrapolating, we conclude that four out of nine blacks are demonstrated racists.
Counting by the numbers is great, ain't it?
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