CHICAGO — Barbara Amiel Black lashed out at the media Monday, reportedly calling reporters “vermin,” as the fraud trial of her husband Conrad Black was adjourned for the day after questions over tainting of the jury surfaced even before lawyers had a chance to present opening arguments.
The constant media spotlight on Black and his family — and the clambering of reporters and photographers trying to get to him — sparked an incident between Amiel Black and journalists in an elevator when the Blacks left for a late morning break in the trial.
The former newspaper columnist was waiting to go down in the elevator with Black and his daughter when a television producer approached them and asked if they were leaving the building.
Black, who recognized her from earlier coverage of the trial, asked if she was going to ride down with him and “breathlessly” relay word of his approach to the cameramen waiting outside the building.
British journalist Joanna Walters said that as the doors closed, Amiel Black called the TV producer “You slut!”
According to Walters, who is covering the trial for the London Daily Express, Amiel Black then turned to her and another female journalist in the elevator and told them: “You’re all vermin. I’m sick of this. I used to be a journalist and I never door-stepped people.”
There was no immediate comment from Amiel Black denying or confirming Walters’ account. Amiel Black has not commented to the media about the case since jury selection in the trial began last Wednesday.
The elevator incident came shortly after Judge Amy St. Eve delayed the trial and Black’s defence lawyers raised concerns that news of a settlement by the media baron’s former partner David Radler — a key prosecution witness — may taint the jury’s views and are interfering with Black’s right to a fair trial.
St. Eve planned to swear in the jury and start with the prosecution’s opening statement but postponed the trial to Tuesday. Unconfirmed reports said a juror did not arrive in court and could not be reached in time.
On Friday, Radler — Black’s former top executive in the Hollinger group — signed a US$28.7-million settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, a deal that will also see him barred from being an executive or director of a U.S. public company.
Then Sunday night, a second US$63.4-million settlement was announced with Sun-Times Media, the new incarnation of Hollinger International, that settled claims against Radler related to backdated stock options when he was chief operating officer at the company.
The timing is “real troubling,” Black’s U.S. lawyer Ed Genson told St. Eve before proceedings began.
Radler has already pleaded guilty to fraud and has agreed to testify against Black in the criminal case in return for a lenient jail sentence of 29 months and a US$250,000 fine.
Genson also objected to a quote by former Hollinger International CEO Gordon Paris — the prosecution’s first witness — “bragging about the money these people collected from Radler.”
Tammy Chase, Sun-Times director of investor relations, would not comment on whether the company had considered the possible repercussions of releasing news of the settlement just hours before the trial was set tto begin.
She said the settlement had been finalized over the weekend.
“Once we had the settlement nailed down we had to disclose it,” she said. “We’re a public company.”
Asked about the defence’s objections to Paris’ comments in the Sunday night release, Chase said he “was quoted because he was the head of the special committee.”
Lead prosecutor Eric Sussman said he had been unaware of the Sunday settlement until Genson mentioned it in court.
James Morton, head of litigation at Steinberg Morton Hope and Israel in Toronto and president of the Ontario Bar Association, said the timing would be “highly problematic” in Canada, and questioned whether the prosecutors were using the media to try their case.
But others said it was “dangerous” to read too much into Monday’s one-day adjournment, which could have resulted from any number of reasons.
“It could be as innocuous as a doctor’s appointment” for one of the jurors, said Orin Snyder, a former federal prosecutor currently with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Crisis Management Practice Group.
Peter Henning, a law professor at Wayne State University in Michigan, said starting jury selection over would be one possible remedy in the case, especially if enough of the members of the pool read the articles about Radler’s settlement.
But, he added, St. Eve may have just been looking to get all the opening arguments in in one day, and decided to adjourn once it became clear that wasn’t going to be possible.
“She’s going to have to examine (the issue) and see whether it taints the 20 people,” Henning said.
“The last thing a judge wants is to have a conviction reversed.”
While he agreed that the timing of the news, “certainly lends some credence” to the defences claim that Black and his co-defendants may not get a fair trial as a result of the settlement, he said it was unlikely to be enough of a reason to get rid of the current jurors.
“Once the jurors hear the government’s opening argument, they’re going to hear about how bad these people are,” he said.
Earlier Monday, Black had little to say upon entering court to face fraud and racketeering charges.
“My views of these charges and my expectation of the verdict are well known and I haven’t changed them,” said the former media tycoon, who has called the charges a “monstrous defamation” and predicted he will be vindicated.
Officials said the trial was set to resume Tuesday, when St. Eve is expected to swear in the jury and then give the floor to Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Cramer, who will lay out the government’s case.
Prosecutors allege Black defrauded shareholders and used money from the Hollinger International newspaper group to cover extravagant personal expenses. The charges centre on the sale of hundreds of community papers and US$85 million in “non-compete” payments allegedly pocketed by executives of Black’s former newspaper empire
Black is charged with wire and mail fraud, tax evasion, money laundering, racketeering and obstruction of justice.
2 comments:
I think "fair usage" of a copyrighted work means a "short excerpt" and not the full story.
On the other hand, what's the difference between reprinting the entire story and linking to the full story?
Say goodbye to Conrad. He's going away for a very long time to live with worse "vermin" than reporters.
Rick Mercer said Conrad Black should be debating within himself whether he would naturally prefer to be a 'bottom' or a 'top'.
Have a lot of fun, Conrad. Finally, this is something you earned.
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