Do you think Libby will be convicted?

[lancdem]

I have to confess I'm not following the trial as closely as I should be. With closing arguments upon us, what is everyone's best guess?

Thanks! :hi:

[wakeme2008]

1. yes

:) :hi:

[lancdem]

5. I love your optimism!

I do know Fitz's track record is impressive.

[saltpoint]

2. Yes. The deep-fryer's plenty hot.

[speedoo]

3. Yes.

There's a small chance of a hung jury, but I think we will have a conviction in a few days.

[lancdem]

8. Libby's defense didn't take very long

What do you think that means? I also wonder why Cheney wasn't called.

[Crabby Appleton]

4. yes, either 4 of 5 or 5 of 5 counts nt

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

6. Yes, he is. The grand jury testimony is going to do him in. You have no idea

how many times he said Tim Russert told him! lol!

[Warpy]

7. Probably, then released on appeal

and the appeal will cover at least a year, then to Club Fed until January 19, 2009, when he will be pardoned.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the pardon has already been signed and is in his lawyer's safe. This is the kind of deal they had to offer him in order to keep Cheney off the stand.

[lancdem]

10. Hmmm...

Your scenario about why Cheney didn't testify is food for thought.

[yodermon]

9. "Convicted Felon Scooter Libby"

Soon we'll be able to use this qualifier.

[lancdem]

11. I like it

[tularetom]

12. Based on what I've read, I don't see how they could acquit him

The evidence is pretty damning and the defense case seemed half hearted as though they didn't want to insult the jury's intelligence by trying to deny such overwhleming evidence.

[Blue_In_AK]

13. He will be convicted, and he will be pardoned. n/t

[meldroc]

16. Yep, the evidence is pretty damning, but Scooter's a good footsoldier.

He was contradicted seven times now? He doesn't have a meaningful defense intended to get himself acquitted. Instead, he's focusing on staying on Bush's and Cheney's good graces. For now, he's falling on his sword, risking prison time for himself, so he doesn't implicate Bush and Cheney too much (though the available evidence dug up implicates them enough...) He'll try to stay out of prison for a while by gaming the system with endless appeals of his conviction and sentence, then the day before Bush leaves office, he'll get a pardon.

If we're lucky, the judge will rule that he has to do his appeals from within prison, and deny him bond while his appeals work their way through the system.

[blm]

21. Bush2 will get away with pardoning him at the end of his term while all the attention

is on the 'new administration' who will be set in place to continue the coverups for BushInc. Just like Bush1 got away with his pardons with little scrutiny.

[leftofthedial]

14. who cares

a flunky gets spanked (and pardoned in less than two years)

and the criminals who have hijacked our country have an extra whiskey at the evening cocktail party before going on another vacation.

[Double T]

15. Who the hell knows...........

ALL rational thoughts and decisions have been suspended from January 2001 through January 2009. Perhaps after this period of total irrational insanity, life as 'WE' once knew it may eventually be restored.

[TahitiNut]

17. I think he'll be convicted on at least 3 of the 5 counts.

The prosecution summation was clear, direct, and relatively easy to follow. The defense summation has begun and sounds fractured, misleading, and surreal (difficult to follow).

I think there's a far greater chance he'll be found guilty on all 5 counts than on only 1 count or exonerated on all counts. Far greater.

[valerief]

18. He'll be anthraxed before a conviction and the case will be dismissed. nt

[SammyWinstonJack]

19. And then pardoned by the Decider?

[Marie26]

20. Oh yeah,

He is guilty. The defense just gave up halfway through the trial.

[ronnykmarshall]

22. Yes .....

and then he'll get a pardon to shut him up.

[priller]

23. At FireDogLake a few days ago

they mentioned an incident that happened on Valentine's day last week, when the jury came in all dressed in t-shirts with a big heart on them. All, that is, except one juror, who is well known to be "cranky". Don't know if it foreshadows anything, but the fear is that one juror may disagree out of sheer contrariness and result in a hung jury. Other than that, the general view is that the defense was weak, and after refusing to put both Scooter and Cheney on the stand (especially after the defense said they would) they looked even weaker.