Go Scooter go!
Some interesting points..
From El Paso Times:
Walton has a reputation as one of the district's strictest judges.
Since Libby's conviction, the White House has sidestepped talk of pardoning Libby. Some of Libby's supporters have spoken publicly about a pardon, while Democrats are asking Bush to promise not to issue one.
Bush said he is "pretty much going to stay out of" the case until the legal fight is over.
That becomes harder to do if Walton sends Libby to prison. Bush will have to decide whether to pardon his former aide or let him serve his time.
A pardon decision could be delayed, however, if Walton sentences Libby to prison but puts the sentence on hold. Normally, defendants are ordered to report to prison within weeks. But the law allows _ and defense lawyers said they will ask _ Walton to delay the sentence until appeals have run out.
That could be many months, at the earliest, or even more than a year.
It's also hard to compare Libby's case with other politically charged trials.
Dwight L. Chapin, an aide to President Nixon, was convicted of two counts of perjury in 1973 and served six months in prison for lying to a federal grand jury investigating the Watergate scandal. Unlike Libby, Chapin was not convicted of obstruction.
Nixon's domestic affairs adviser, John D. Ehrlichman, and chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, served 18 months of a four-year to eight-year term for obstruction of justice, conspiracy and perjury. Libby, however, was not charged with conspiracy.
Domestic diva Martha Stewart, whose 2004 trial was far less political but no less publicized, was sentenced to five months prison for conspiracy, obstruction and making false statements for lying to investigators about a stock sale.
In a ruling last week, however, he indicated he did not view the conviction lightly. He received more than 150 letters in the case, which he said was evidence of the public's interest in the case and "the weightiness of the underlying charges."
From El Paso Times:
Walton has a reputation as one of the district's strictest judges.
Since Libby's conviction, the White House has sidestepped talk of pardoning Libby. Some of Libby's supporters have spoken publicly about a pardon, while Democrats are asking Bush to promise not to issue one.
Bush said he is "pretty much going to stay out of" the case until the legal fight is over.
That becomes harder to do if Walton sends Libby to prison. Bush will have to decide whether to pardon his former aide or let him serve his time.
A pardon decision could be delayed, however, if Walton sentences Libby to prison but puts the sentence on hold. Normally, defendants are ordered to report to prison within weeks. But the law allows _ and defense lawyers said they will ask _ Walton to delay the sentence until appeals have run out.
That could be many months, at the earliest, or even more than a year.
It's also hard to compare Libby's case with other politically charged trials.
Dwight L. Chapin, an aide to President Nixon, was convicted of two counts of perjury in 1973 and served six months in prison for lying to a federal grand jury investigating the Watergate scandal. Unlike Libby, Chapin was not convicted of obstruction.
Nixon's domestic affairs adviser, John D. Ehrlichman, and chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, served 18 months of a four-year to eight-year term for obstruction of justice, conspiracy and perjury. Libby, however, was not charged with conspiracy.
Domestic diva Martha Stewart, whose 2004 trial was far less political but no less publicized, was sentenced to five months prison for conspiracy, obstruction and making false statements for lying to investigators about a stock sale.
In a ruling last week, however, he indicated he did not view the conviction lightly. He received more than 150 letters in the case, which he said was evidence of the public's interest in the case and "the weightiness of the underlying charges."
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