INSIDER TALKING
…A criminal action that must go down as one of the most bizarre in the history of the U. S. federal court system took its latest plot twist on September 8, 2005 when Judge Lynn Hughes, sitting in the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, issued a judgment of acquittal in favor of Bahamas resident Yank Barry and co-defendant James Collins more than four years after a jury had found them guilty of bribery and money laundering concerning a prison food contract on August 20, 2001 and more than three years after the motion for acquittal was filed, initially by Barry only, on July 22, 2002.
The U. S. Government has announced its intention to appeal the decision to the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit but Judge Hughes has stated that, if his decision is overturned on appeal, “the defendants will receive a new trial. Justice requires it”. In ordering an acquittal, Judge Hughes described the government’s case as “entirely circumstantial” and its “star witness”, Patrick Graham, as “a convicted con-artist and a freelance government agent” whose testimony was “riddled with contradictions. In addition, Graham had a secret deal with the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana that – in exchange for his testimony in numerous cases – the U. S. Attorney would not prosecute him for his crimes in Louisiana and would even seek a sentence reduction for his crimes in other states. With this motivation, Graham conveniently knew all sorts of information about nefarious dealings in other districts. In this case, Graham’s testimony of oral, uncorroborated statements was the only inculpatory evidence that the government offered; it had to be substantive to the convictions and believed beyond a reasonable doubt. Without it, the jury could not have convicted the defendants. For these reasons, Collins and Barry ask this court to acquit them, arguing that the government did not prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. In the alternative, they argue that the verdict was so contrary to the great weight of evidence that this court should give them a new trial. They are right.
The court will acquit Collins and Barry. Conditionally, as a contingent holding, it will give them a new trial.” In his 50-page ruling, the judge sought to blame chronic, post-trial delays in the case on the absence of complete and accurate trial transcripts that have never been produced due to problems with the court stenographer who was briefly jailed for contempt of court, not just for her failure to produce transcripts for the Barry/Collins case but for others, as well. However, it is apparent that Judge Hughes had decided to overturn the jury verdict immediately after it was rendered because he allowed both defendants to remain free pending sentencing, even allowing Barry to return to the Bahamas to live in his luxury home in the gated community of Lyford Cay. Given that it has long been known that accurate and complete trial transcriptions would not be forthcoming, the judge appeared to provide no credible explanation as to why he had taken so long to rule on post-trial motions…
Source: OffshoreAlert [www.offshorealert.com] |
