:rofl:
Witness for The Prosecution
By Paul Kiel - April 7, 2008, 11:29AM
You remember the D.C. Madam, the not-a-people-person who ran a high-end escort service out of her laundry room in California.
Well, Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) certainly does, and in a hearing Friday, Vitter's lawyer was trying his best to keep the senator from being called at Deborah Jeane Palfrey's upcoming trial. Palfrey, who has plead not guilty and says that she was running a legitimate "fantasy sex" operation, has subpoenaed Vitter, apparently with the idea that Vitter would testify that no, there was no sex, only fantasy.
But for some reason, Vitter seems reluctant. From The Times-Picayune:
Lawyer Henry Asbill, who represented Vitter in some earlier motions related to the Palfrey case, told Judge James Robertson that the defense has a responsibility to establish that it has a valid legal reason to call his client other than to simply "harass and embarrass him." He also said that it's hard to imagine a legitimate reason to call him as a witness given that the escort service had hundreds, if not thousands of customers, and the defense hasn't even spoken to his client about whether he would have anything to say that would assist its case.
Preston Burton, Palfrey's attorney, told Judge Robertson that he shouldn't be required to reveal his reasons for putting people on his witness list because it would disclose his defense strategy to prosecutors.
The judge declined Asbill's suggestion that he hold a hearing in chambers, and declined to nullify the subpoena. Robertson said he didn't know the name of Asbill's client and "didn't want to know."
Vitter narrowly avoided testifying earlier in the case at a pretrial hearing in November. That hearing was mercifully canceled.
more...
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/04/witness_for_the_prosecution.php
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