HuffPost: Elusive Justice Overdue In The Case Of Political Prisoner Paul Minor

[Hissyspit]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brendan-demelle/elusive-justice-overdue-i_b_217213.html

Brendan DeMelleEnvironmental activist
Posted: June 18, 2009 04:16 AM

Elusive Justice Overdue in the Case of Political Prisoner Paul Minor

It is time for the Obama Justice Department to reverse one of the most egregiously political persecutions of the Bush era -- Paul Minor's bogus conviction on trumped up charges of public corruption "bribery" despite a total lack of evidence that his role as the top funder of Democratic candidates in Mississippi netted him anything other than misery and a harsh prison sentence.

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Paul Minor's attorneys recently filed a straightforward, compelling brief with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals outlining the multiple errors the prosecution made in convicting Minor for bribery despite the government not being required to prove a quid pro quo. In such cases, crystal clear case law requires the presiding judge to instruct the jury that they can only convict a campaign fundraiser of bribing public officials if clear "this for that" evidence exists of a quid pro quo agreement leading to a specific official act by the recipient in exchange for the campaign contributions.

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The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is currently reviewing Minor's case, heard oral arguments from the government and Minor's legal team on April 1st and later requested further written clarification, which both sides submitted on June 4th. The clarification the Court requested involved whether the government even had jurisdiction to prosecute Minor using one of the federal bribery statutes under which he was convicted. Now that all the legal briefing has been completed for the court, the case is ripe for decision and the court could soon conclude that the government erred in convicting Minor.

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Minor has endured a cruel and distressing ordeal since his 2007 conviction, spending the last two years locked up in prison while his wife of four decades battled terminal brain cancer and recently passed away in April. Minor's repeated requests to visit with his dying wife in her final days - and to attend her funeral service where he planned to deliver a eulogy honoring her memory and their 40 years of marriage - were all callously denied by the Bureau of Prisons, despite the black letter law requiring the release on bail pending appeal of anyone, as here, raising such "substantial questions" on appeal. Since it is highly unusual for an appeals court to seek further clarification after hearing oral arguments in a case, Minor obviously cleared the bar by a mile in presenting compelling arguments to the court regarding his botched prosecution.

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Nothing will bring his wife Sylvia back, but freeing Paul Minor now and reviewing his case is the least that Attorney General Eric Holder can do - as the Obama administration recently did in the cases of former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens and other botched Republican prosecutions. It is time to right the wrongs committed by the overzealous, partisan U.S. attorneys who brought shame and disgrace to the Justice Department under George W. Bush.

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[merh]

1. The articles in the post you made earlier seems to indicate that

the DOJ has a stack of documents on this case and others like it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5875326

again, thank you

[babylonsister]

2. Rec'd. nt

[merh]

3. kick

[dgibby]

4. DOJ only looks at miscarriage of justice for republicans, it would appear.

Dems need not apply.

[merh]

5. kick

:kick: for the night crew