Jim Zeigler says reversal of Virginia governor’s graft conviction could free Don Siegelman.
'State Auditor Jim Zeigler said Monday he believes the U.S. Supreme Court‘s decision to overturn a prominent Virginia politician’s criminal conviction could spring former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman as well.
Saying Gov. Bob McDonnell was exonerated on charges “very close to what Siegelman was convicted of,” Zeigler said Siegelman — a longtime power broker in Montgomery and around the state — could benefit from procedural aspects of McDonnell’s case.
The high court found Monday morning that the jury that convicted McDonnell was instructed incorrectly. Specifically, the court ruled that state prosecutors interpreted a federal bribery statute too broadly, and instructed jurors to deliberate over the decision whether or not to convict McDonnell for something that may not have been technically unlawful at all.
The jury was instructed to interpret the term “public acts” to mean almost anything a governor does while in office, including setting up meetings between interests and constituents — precisely what McDonnell was convicted of doing in exchange for personal gifts from a businessman seeking access to public figures.
Zeigler sees parallels between McDonnell’s case and Siegelman’s in this regard.'>>>
http://altoday.com/archives/11084-jim-zeigler-says-reversal-virginia-governors-graft-conviction-free-don-siegelman
I was hoping to see something like this.
= new reply since forum marked as read
