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"Conrad Black loses appeal of U.S. obstruction and fraud charges"

"Conrad Black loses appeal of U.S. obstruction and fraud charges": The Canadian Press provides this report.

The Chicago Sun-Times has a news update headlined "Appeals court upholds Conrad Black's conviction."

And The Toronto Star has a news update headlined "Conrad Black loses appeal."

Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner wrote today's ruling on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

This result comes as no surprise to anyone who credited the press coverage earlier this month of the appellate oral argument in this case.

Update: At page 12, Judge Posner's opinion offers the following take on the so-called "ostrich" instruction:

Three more issues need to be discussed. The first is whether an "ostrich" instruction should have been given. The reference of course is to the legend that ostriches when frightened bury their head in the sand. It is pure legend and a canard on a very distinguished bird. Zoological Society of San Diego, Birds: Ostrich, www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-ostrich.html (visited June 12, 2008) ("When an ostrich senses danger and cannot run away, it flops to the ground and remains still, with its head and neck flat on the ground in front of it. Because the head and neck are lightly colored, they blend in with the color of the soil. From a distance, it just looks like the ostrich has buried its head in the sand, because only the body is visible"). It is too late, however, to correct this injustice.

This misconception about ostriches appears at the start of question 1 of my "20 questions for the appellate judge" featuring (now senior status) First Circuit Judge Bruce M. Selya, where I wrote that "It would be struthian to contend that your command of obscure words is anything other than Babe Ruthian." Elsewhere, Law Professor Eugene Volokh advises against using the word "struthious."

And while we are debunking canards (which, by contrast, are birds that can fly), allow me to question the use of the singular "head" in the following sentence from Judge Posner's opinion: "The reference of course is to the legend that ostriches when frightened bury their head in the sand."

Full post as published by How Appealing on June 25, 2008 (boomark / email).