From the words of USA assistant Julie Ruder:
The defendants covered their tracks with ``a phony paper trail.'' To the jury: "It will be your job to expose this cover story for the lie that it is."
"We're not here because somebody made a mistake, we're not here because somebody forgot to dot the i's or cross the t's," Ruder said as Black looked on without any sign of emotion. She said the four defendants "decided on their own to take a slice of the company's profits."
The defendants concealed that fact, she said.
"They chose not to tell the truth about why the payments were being made," she said. "They chose to lie."
Ruder said the non-compete payments were an ideal way to siphon money out of the company and make it look as if there was a good reason for it.
Turning to the defense table and pointing at Black, she said: "It's a pretty easy way for people who know how the system works to use it as part of a cover story."
From Macleans.ca website in Canada liveblogging on Black's trial:
The ostrich idles on the runway
Mark Steyn June 18, 2007 10:16:44
As Lawrence of Arabia used to say, the excitement is in tents. Patrick Fitzgerald, the great man himself, has just entered the court expecting to find his protege Ms Ruder in full rhetorical flight. Instead, the lawyers were huddled in a long long sidebar of procedural wrangling. The ostrich remains grounded, and we still await the jury and the government's curtain raiser.
Mark Steyn covers the Conrad Black trial from opening arguments to final verdict.
1 comment:
Well this case might be closing up the people in Canada already said he's guilty. Black tried to cover his tracks but with smart lawyers and honest jurors he's hosed. This is what happens when the rich get greedy. We're seeing the same think in the White House.
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