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Black's lawyer spars with former Hollinger director
CHICAGO -- Conrad Black's lawyer sparred with prosecution witness Richard Burt at the media baron's fraud trial Thursday, questioning what the former U.S. diplomat and Hollinger International board member did to earn his director's salary. In a series of heated exchanges, Eddie Genson asked the witness about why he hadn't noticed references to controversial non-compete payments in company documents that Burt signed in the late '90s. (Non-compete fees are paid to prevent sellers from jumping back into a market where a buyer has purchased assets, such as newspapers.) "You didn't read it?" the Chicago lawyer asked of the documents. .
Justice delayed: DNA evidence frees another innocent
In a statistic that is both gratifying and horrifying, a Chicago Army veteran has become the 200th person to be exonerated by DNA evidence, according to the Innocence Project, a nonprofit, New York-based legal clinic. That's gratifying, because justice long denied to innocents like Jerry Miller, 48, of Chicago and 199 others who came before him finally has been served. But Miller's good news also raises horrifying questions about flaws in our nation's criminal justice system. For one thing, only 10 percent of felonies produce any biological evidence that can be tested for DNA, according to lawyer Barry Scheck, who co-founded the Innocence Project in 1992 to help prisoners prove their innocence through DNA evidence. And a closer look at the 200 exonerations produces an unsettling view of the mistakes that often seal a conviction.
Black used company jet for Bora Bora trip for safety reasons ...
CHICAGO (CP) - Conrad Black used a corporate jet en route to a vacation in Bora Bora because Hollinger International had safety concerns about its executives and requested they take the plane, his lawyers suggested Tuesday. In his trial on fraud and racketeering charges the former newspaper magnate has been accused by prosecutors of abusing company resources, racking up as much as US$20 million in perks at Hollinger International's expense. As far as the Bora Bora trip to the South Pacific island was concerned, Hollinger International's policy did not differentiate between personal and business travel and the company decided in 2003 to pay for its executives' trips, Eddie Greenspan, Black's Canadian lawyer, told a Chicago court. .
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