Federal Judiciary

Final bail plea for Black

By Akin Gump Supreme Court Practice Group

Lawyers for a Canadian newspaper magnate convicted in the U.S. in a high-profile executive compensation case made their final plea Tuesday night for his release on bail.  In a reply brief (found here) to Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, attorneys for Conrad M. Black completed their arguments for his freedom so he could return to Canada.

The exchanges between Black’s counsel and the Justice Department over the bail issue have come to center primarily on the fate of his conviction on charges of obstruction of justice.  Black was also convicted on fraud counts, but the Supreme Court last month agreed to rule on the validity of that part of his conviction.

Black contends that, if the fraud counts are overturned by the Supreme Court when it rules on its case in the Term starting next October, his obstruction conviction will be undermined. The Justice Department disputed that.

In their closing filing, Black’s lawyers asked Justice Stevens to grant bail while the Supreme Court case is pending, and then refer the release issue to a federal judge to impose a bond.   Justice Stevens has the authority to act on his own, or to refer the matter to the full Court.

Black is currently in prison in Florida, having served so far 18 months of his 78-month sentence.  He is the only one reamining in prison among the former colleagues in his media empire who were convicted. Others were not given prison terms, or have been released on bail pending the Supreme Court ruling.

Full post as published by SCOTUSBLOG on June 10, 2009 (boomark / email).