Conrad Black, Ex-Hollinger Chief, Skips Arraignment (Update1)

[emad]

Nov. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Conrad Black, the former Hollinger International Inc. chairman accused of helping steal $51.8 million from the company, won't appear for his arraignment in federal court in Chicago today, said Randall Samborn, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.

Black, 61, missed a hearing before U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve, potentially sparking a battle to extradite Black, who renounced his Canadian citizenship in 2001 to accept a British peerage.

``Conrad Black is not going to be appearing in court today,'' Samborn said outside of the federal courthouse.

Samborn declined to comment on whether prosecutors would begin extradition proceedings against Black. Last week, Fitzgerald issued a warrant for Black's arrest and said he would seek extradition if Black failed to show up.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=a5.7ua8emPog&refer=us

[Spazito]

1. Doesn't surprise me, Black believes he is royalty, above the law

and any mere human. His hubris is renowned. I so hope he is extradited and is photographed in handcuffs, it is so well deserved.

[Kagemusha]

2. He's nobility, but that doesn't excuse him

And he can afford the plane ticket.

[emad]

4. He ain't! Thatcher got him elevated to the House of Lords so he

wouldn't testify against her goddwaful son Mark, who finally came a cropper in the Riggs Bank-sposored Equatorial Guinea coupt d'etat attempt last year.....

AND so he could dosh up her slush fund, the Thatcher Foundation...

[Kagemusha]

6. Look, it means nothing to American citizens, but over there,

he is a Lord, *now*, even if he was just some commoner Canadian to start with. He has rank and title, though as I said, that does nothing to make him unaccountable to the law. Here or there.

[formercia]

33. along with putting Hollinger money into Trireme Partners

the investment/venture capital group started by Doug Feith and Richard Perle exactly two years before 9/11 to invest in defense related companies in the run up to the Iraq War. Man, those guys were clairvoyant. Perle and Feith then pumped up the War to boost the value of their investments.

[Spazito]

5. He is NOT nobility, he has a bought title, worth nothing of substance

except to slimebags like Black.

[Kagemusha]

7. Um, did anyone ever tell you nobility is a title nothing more?

And he has a title and nothing more.

If you're reading more into it than that, my apologies. I was responding to the "he's acting like he's royalty". No, he's acting like something a rung down that he's probably not worthy of either (as you are saying).

But geez, sorry for angering so many people by stating facts.

[Spazito]

8. Ahh, sorry, misread the intention of your post

Having that clarified, I totally agree.

[emad]

19. "Lord" Black = Life Peer . IE ennobled by Blair on Thatcher's

orders as a bakhsheesh for services rendered.

[Joe Chi Minh]

15. In the UK, Kagan was a lord. It didn't stop him being jailed.

[emad]

3. My money's on Fitzie. Better poker player than all the gangsters

in Shrub and Poodle's administrations pooled together.

Fitz and Elliot Spitzer = nominate for Nobel Peace Prize 2006.

[Judi Lynn]

9. AP: Arraignment for Conrad Black pushed back

Arraignment for Conrad Black pushed back

The Associated Press
Published November 22, 2005, 9:33 AM CST

The scheduled arraignment today for Conrad Black was pushed back to Nov. 30 after an attorney for the fallen media baron requested more time to determine who will represent Black in court.

Black, 61, faces charges he defrauded the Hollinger International publishing empire out of tens of millions of dollars.

The government's lead attorney in the case, Robert Kent, agreed to the postponement. The government obtained arrest warrants last week, but the prosecution is not pursuing extradition at this point, Kent said.

``We have arrest warrants in our possession. Hopefully we will not need to execute them,'' Kent said.

Randy Samborn, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, declined to speculate whether Black's arrest will be sought if he does not appear on Nov. 30.

Black was charged last Thursday with siphoning millions of dollars out of the company he once controlled through bogus fees and abuses of perquisites, such as using the corporate jet for a vacation in Bora Bora and dipping into the Hollinger treasury to pay for his wife's birthday party.
(snip/...)

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-051122black,1,1057618.story?coll=chi-business-hed
(Free registration required)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Black needs to stop screwing around. What a colossal @$$.

[AngryAmish]

10. Does he get the benefit of sovereign immunity?

Being in the House of Lords and all that.

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. No - Lords can get charged just the same as everyone

Follow the career of Jeffrey Archer, a very similar Conservative conman to Black, and who served time after being exposed for perjury in a libel case. Being a life peer didn't help him.

[AngryAmish]

13. Another English law question

In England he would be entitled to "a jury of his peers" like the old days? You know, other lords?

He is not entitled to a jury of his peers in the US. Would it violate the law to extradite him to another country where his rights in a jury trial are less than England? (I know he is in Canada. How would being in Canada effect this?


***You have three hours. Open your bluebooks now.****

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. According to Wikipedia, that right disappeared in 1948

The right to trial by these special courts was abolished in 1948 by the Criminal Justice Act. The last trial in the House of Lords was that of Edward Southwell Russell, 26th Baron de Clifford in 1936 for motor manslaughter; the last in the Lord High Steward's Court was that of Henry Booth, 2nd Baron Delamere in 1685 for treason. Now, peers may be tried by juries composed of commoners, though they were themselves until recently excluded from jury service.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rights_and_privileges_of_peers#Trial_by_peers

In any case, extradition isn't normally stopped by a change in the trial system - the UK will extradite to countries that use investigating magistrates and similar. The UK also recently signed a new extradition treaty with the US, which means it's easier to send a UK citizen for trial to the US than it is to send him to trial in the UK - the standard of proof required is about that needed to arrest someone. About the only thing which holds up the process is that the UK demands a guarantee the death penalty won't be asked for.

It questioned the fairness of the Extradition Treaty 2003 under which the US government does not have to prove to the UK that there is a prima facie case to answer.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4441448.stm

[AngryAmish]

17. Thanks buddy

now, when are you turning in your paper?

[emad]

20. He is not a hereditary peer. Title dies with him and/or he can be

stripped of it either a) by specific act of parliament or b) personal action of the Sovereign.

All peers, whether life or hereditary - get ordinary 12 ,am/woman jury in legal proceedings.

[tenshi816]

23. He's not in Canada.

He took UK citizenship years ago.

Edited to say that, yes, he still has a home in Canada, as well as in the States (Miami maybe? - can't remember), but I think he's based in London now.

There was a long article about him in the Times on Sunday, but I can't find it on their website. According to the article, Black's former business partner, David Radler, looks set to do a lot of singing about their business practices in an effort to save his own skin. The situation puts me in the mind of the current Scanlon/Abramoff situation.

Also, considering Patrick Fitzgerald is involved, I expect this to get more and more interesting as time goes by!

[muriel_volestrangler]

24. It appears he is in Canada at the moment

On Monday, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald vowed he would seek extradition of Black if he failed to appear at Tuesday's arraignment hearing.

To extradite Black, prosecutors must satisfy a U.S.- Canadian treaty that requires a crime to also be an offence in Canada and carry a sentence of more than a year.

Black, who renounced his Canadian citizenship to become a British citizen, is living in Toronto.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051122/conrad_black_051122/20051123?hub=Canada

[Spazito]

25. Ain't it ironic, Canada wasn't good enough for him to retain his

Canadian citizenship but it's plenty good enough for him to live here. He should be booted out and deported back to Britain where he was once so eager to live.Oh how I despise that man and his shrew of a wife!

[AngryAmish]

29. What is the difference b/w Canada and UK?

They both have the same head of state. I suppose Canadians have better teeth...

[Spazito]

30. Big difference, lol

A difference in the cost of living, size, EU, one is an island, one is not, guess which is which. We didn't join the US in Iraq, they did. I could go on and on but I suspect you get the picture, lol.

We have a parliamentary system in common as well as still being a member of the commonwealth, that's about all the similarities we have.

[AngryAmish]

31. Just joshing ya

I like baiting Canadians, eh? Take off!

[Spazito]

32. LOL, any post that keeps the thread about Black being in BIG trouble

on the first page of LBN wins a :thumbsup: from me, eh!

[tenshi816]

26. Wherever he is, I hope they drag his sorry arse away

with his hands cuffed behind his back and also that the photos hit every publication in Britain and throughout the world. On the front page, preferably.

I wonder how long it will take the oh-so-opportunistic Barbara Amiel to divorce him after that.

[Southsideirish]

11. I love the way that rich people can TELL the judge when they will come

to court. I don't know about where most people live but whenever I've seen a local Chicago judge in action they treat the public like absolute garbage. I was totally shocked - particularly at the very local court level. They talk to people like they are swine.

[SOS]

16. Right-wing "personal responsibility"

is always a sight to behold!

[Spazito]

18. Here is an interesting article that has more detail, including

the interesting tidbit that:

"Meanwhile, Hollinger International announced Monday that six of its directors are not going to stand for re-election at the company's annual general meeting Monday.

Richard Burt, Daniel Colson, Henry Kissinger, Shmuel Meitar, Richard Perle and James Thompson all intend to leave the board of the beleagured newspaper publisher."

and this:

"Meanwhile, Britain's House of Lords confirmed Monday that Lord Black could only be stripped of his peerage through an act of the British Parliament.

British parliamentarians have considered provisions that would block peers who have been convicted of a crime from taking their seats in the House of Lords, but those proposals have not yet been enacted."

Link to article:

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051122/conrad_black_051122/20051122?hub=TopStories

[Boo Boo]

21. This guy's a sharp one indeed. Very cagey. Very smart...

It'll be soooo much better to be extradited, then arrested by the FBI and frog-marched downtown to have his picture taken with a number hanging around his neck. It avoids all that nasty publicity.

:eyes:

FOX and CNN are going to have a field day with this shit. Gimme a break: Patrick Fitzgerald, the son of an Irish hotel doorman, champion of Truth, Justice, and the American Way, versus Lord Conrad Black: liar, cheat, thief... a man who renounced his own country.

Fitz has got the heat! He's gonna have to hire an agent!

It's gotta be the socks.

[daleo]

22. I wonder if Black has much dirt on neo-cons in high places?

It will be interesting to see if big players start pulling strings for him. Presidential pardon maybe?

It is a longshot, I know.

[oblivious]

27. I take great delight in kicking and nominating this.

[oblivious]

28. Curses! Too late to nominate.