Toronto Life: The Trial of Conrad Black

May 2007 Archive

Black Watch: Today’s Top Stories

Posted on May 31, 2007 by Douglas Bell

With the prosecution rested and the money-laundering charge dropped, Edward Genson came out with the line of the trial: “OK, I guess I can go.” The defence, seeming confident that they’ve parried the prosecution’s case to date and further evincing the power of American Independence Day (woe betide the fool who would come between the jury and their right to party), is ready to wrap things up and seek a verdict as early as the third week of June. First, though, we’ll get a string of his Lordship’s flunkies, including Black’s butler (a guy known only as “Berner”), Black’s secretary, Joan Maida, Black’s flack-in-chief Ken Whyte, and somebody who claims to be an expert in non-compete agreements. Each will do his or her rendition of “I’m shocked and appalled at even the suggestion of impropriety,” followed in turn by a prosecutor claiming to be even more shocked and appalled at their being shocked and appalled, etc., etc. In the midst of all this, Angus Reid conducted a poll that reveals that fewer Canadians are actively following the case today than at its opening (I know how they feel). But the number that really jumps out is that only nine per cent of Canadians are certain they would feel sorry for Black were he to be convicted. And this after a sustained and relentless media campaign to rehabilitate Black’s image in the face of the criminal allegations. Nixon he ain’t.

Black Watch: Today’s Top Stories

Posted on May 30, 2007 by Douglas Bell

British papers lead their trial coverage this morning with the testimony of security guard Shahab Mahmood and the case of the moving boxes. Andrew Clark of the Guardian reports:

Biting the Hand That Feeds You

Posted on May 29, 2007 by Douglas Bell

It’s one of those fabulous little ironies that points to the underlying absurdity of just about everything. In an otherwise unrelated story in Friday’s Wall Street Journal regarding a lawsuit brought by Joseph Nacchio (the former Qwest Communications CEO convicted of insider trading) asking the company he ripped off to continue paying his legal bills, the reporter references a similar claim made by Conrad Black. A year ago, Black successfully sued Hollinger International in Delaware (Delaware being the same court that ruled against him in his effort to sell the Daily Telegraph), thereby requiring International to foot his legal bills. Who says alleged crime doesn’t pay?

Black Watch: Today’s Top Stories

Posted on May 29, 2007 by Douglas Bell

In the lull between the end of the beginning and the beginning of the end, coverage today is notable only for a headline webbed in the Globe: “Black Trial Entering Final Weeks.” It seems like only yesterday that journalists, fearful the proceedings could drag into August, were begging for death’s sweet release. Now, with the end in sight, we discover that lawyers for Black et al. are planning closing arguments weighing in at a lousy four hours each, and the prosecution intends to sum up its case in a rapier-quick eight hours. This morning, a defence lawyer named Marc Martin was scheduled to cross-examine former 10 Toronto Street security guard Lance Bloomfield on behalf of Lord Black. The law of averages alone dictates he’d have to be faster than either of the Eddies on that score. If things continue at this pace, we’ll all be home and dry in time for barbecue season at 26 Park Lane Circle. I’ve yet to receive my invitation, but I’m quite sure it’s in the mail.

Black Watch: Today’s Top Stories

Posted on May 28, 2007 by Douglas Bell

It’s Memorial Day in America, and trial coverage has slowed to a trickle. What there is points to the opening of Conrad Black’s defence (likely this week) and suggests that the trial’s momentum is substantially in his Lordship’s favour. The New York Post, whose credo is usually “hang ’em high,” featured a piece denigrating the quality of the government’s evidence. Janet Whitman, who’s been an honest broker throughout, concludes, “While no one can accurately read how a jury is leaning, there’s a palpable feeling in the courtroom that few are ready to convict Black.” Writing in the Toronto Star, David Olive, forever skeptical of Black and his chorus of yea-sayers, went after the government for poor preparation resulting in cocked-up cross-examinations, the legal equivalents of prosecutorial own goals:

Look Who's Talking Now

Posted on May 25, 2007 by Douglas Bell

In light of Black’s recent inflammatory statements in the British press, the National Post and CBC News report that Judge Amy St. Eve has told the defendant’s lawyers to put a sock in his mouth. “I suggest that you tell him and admonish him. If you can’t control him…I’d be happy to do it.” Ed Genson’s reported response was that while he didn’t think that Black’s comments in the Toronto Star and the Guardian of London would influence the jury, he would accede to the judge’s request. I think Eddie the Other rather misses the point. Black’s suggesting the case is “bullshit” and calling the prosecutors Nazis isn’t likely to influence the jury one way or the other (they’ll have spent more than 12 weeks filling their heads with details so peripheral to their lives as to qualify them as victims of government-sponsored psychological torture). What will sway them are St. Eve’s instructions just before they retire to deliberate—instructions she may be all too “happy” to deliver.

If You Can’t Say Something Nice…

Posted on May 25, 2007 by Patrick Gossage

When you’re a communications consultant, watching the Blacks’ attempt to stay afloat in muddy waters means evaluating how they are doing and what they could do better in the “double” trial they are undergoing—both the criminal trial playing out in a Chicago courtroom, and the ongoing character trial playing out in the court of public opinion.

Black Watch: Today’s Top Stories

Posted on May 25, 2007 by Douglas Bell

Named for the bravest and most gallant knight in King Arthur’s court, security guard Lancelot Bloomfield testified yesterday that he refused on principle to deliver boxes of documents from 10 Toronto Street into the hands of Conrad Black. Having packed them into Black’s secretary’s Honda, “I got a hold of myself and said, ‘This ain’t right.’ I just brought them back in.” After the continuing parade of reptiles equivocating their tortuous way around the truth, “this ain’t right” sounds like the Gettysburg Address. And while I’m sure that on cross-examination the Eddies will put paid to my narcotic idealizing, wouldn’t it be nice if just once during this trial someone could come off the stand with their dignity intact?

Black Watch: Today’s Top Stories

Posted on May 24, 2007 by Douglas Bell

With the introduction of Conrad’s note to The Donald asking his assistance in quelling the shareholder revolt, the trial entered what I’ll call its Duck Soup phase.

Frequent Liar Points

Posted on May 24, 2007 by Roger Martin

For the second week, I was left disappointed as star prosecution witness David Radler came and went with nothing interesting to show for the days on the stand. All we had was one senior executive saying that his partner was a bad man who was intimately involved with bad behaviours. However, the accuser admitted freely to self-described bad behaviours, including lying about such behaviours, so it was really hard to figure out what to make of his testimony. It was the kind of a “yup I was bad, but he was worse” stance one expects of a plea bargain witness.

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Steyn’s Bait & Tackle

Posted on May 23, 2007 by Douglas Bell

Rising to Maclean’s blogger Mark Steyn’s bait is rarely a good idea. Steyn is a careerist and an ideologue and therefore isn’t nearly as interested in what his opponents are actually saying as he is in characterizing their views in such a way as to make their repudiation a badge of honour among his parishioners. Still, in order to keep the faithful passing the collection plate, he occasionally resorts to sophistry so outrageous I feel compelled to respond. Yesterday, his theme du jour was “class prejudice,” as in the prosecution is trying to play on the animosity of a blue-collar jury for what Steyn terms an “ermine collared” defendant. At the same time, he whinges in another post about all the deals the government has made with its various witnesses to get their testimony on the stand. He concludes with trademark sarcasm: “It’s like musical chairs. When all the deals have been handed out, the guy who hasn’t got one must be the criminal.”

Black Watch: Today’s Top Stories

Posted on May 23, 2007 by Douglas Bell

The New York Post, famed for its outrageous headlines (who can forget “Headless Body in Topless Bar”?), crystallized our hero’s travails in bold type this morning: “Conrad Black’s Plane Chutzpah.” The pun refers to Black’s offhanded remark to a group of prospective shareholders concerned about the cost of Hollinger International’s private jet. “I can,” he reportedly opined, “have a 747 if I want.” The fact is that every time Conrad Black opens his mouth in or out of the courtroom, he’s doing himself down.

Class Dismissed

Posted on May 23, 2007 by Douglas Bell

Writing in Monday’s Ottawa Citizen, philosopher and social theorist Andrew Potter touched on an aspect of the Conrad Black story heretofore untouched by the Canadian media. “Conrad Black’s trial for fraud, racketeering, and obstruction of justice won’t conclude for a while yet,” he wrote. “But he and his wife have long since been convicted by the public of a far more serious crime: social climbing.” Black’s status as a parvenu manqué is more or less a constant in the British press, where his arrival and departure from the scene are treated with the same wogs-gone-wild disdain reserved for the late Robert Maxwell and Mohamed Al-Fayed. The Canadian media is rather less comfortable talking about the specifics of class and status, since, broadly speaking, Canadian journalists and commentators hew to an egalitarian line with few competing ideas on the other side. Such institutions as the Toronto Club, the Queen’s Club, UCC, UTS, U of T, Queen’s and McGill are pale imitations of their American and British equivalents, and so simply don’t carry the same cachet in the public imagination. What’s left is a sort of crude they-think-they’re-better-than-us-but-they’re-not dialectic that lacks the subtlety and stratification of Anglo-American discourse.

Black Watch: Today’s Top Stories

Posted on May 22, 2007 by Douglas Bell

Now that David Radler is reviewing the essentials list for his upcoming trip to summer camp, and Toad has divested himself of his spleen, the prosecution is well into the wind down. With only an allegedly bent Manhattan real estate flip and Conrad sneaking stacks of cardboard boxes out the back of 10 Toronto Street left to shock and appall, you can almost feel the fourth estate settling onto the chaise long for a snooze in anticipation of the defence (should one even be offered) and verdict. The end, in other words, is in sight. Of course, there’s still the potential for happenings to incite a frenzy of Radlerian proportions. Will it be Trump’s comb up and over? Kissinger’s drone? Or Toad himself putting paid to the prattling pack of pusillanimous pundits? Sadly none of the above methinks. Rather, the final hours will be devoted to a strange contest pitting our gang for the government against Eds ’R’ Us as to who can look more affronted at the others’ affrontery. Gentlefolk start your indignation!

Black Watch: The Weekend’s Top Stories

Posted on May 22, 2007 by Douglas Bell

With Victoria Day just past, Canadians can be forgiven for letting Lord Black’s every squib and squiggle escape their attention. Still, for the hardier breed of aficionado, there was plenty over the weekend to keep the pulse racing. Saturday’s London Guardian included an exclusive feature interview with Himself. One assumes that the interview was granted with the understanding that it would focus on his new biography of Richard Nixon, The Invincible Quest. And while Black’s musings on Nixon were evident, if you’ll excuse some shameless editorializing, those weren’t the interesting bits. To wit:

Trial Style

Posted on May 18, 2007 by David Livingstone

Fashions for the penitent come down to a few options. There are the classics: the hair shirt, in bristly goat, or anything in sackcloth, a coarse material borrowed from the traditional wardrobe of corpses. Occasionally, there have been such style innovators as St. Margaret of Hungary (1242–1271), who wore clothes infested with lice—the more lice, the greater the penance.

Black Watch: Today’s Top Stories

Posted on May 18, 2007 by Douglas Bell

The idea that a free press is available to anyone who can afford it is one of those too- clever-by-half throwaways that sounds clever the first time you hear it and cynical the second. And yet, this morning we see in the National Post a couple of headlines that beggar credulity and draw the gimlet eye:

Print’s Rupert

Posted on May 18, 2007 by Douglas Bell

Discovering ironies amid the life and times of Conrad Black is like finding gold in California circa 1849. The stuff’s there at your feet—you just have to bend over and pick it up. The latest turns up in an otherwise unrelated article from yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, discussing the details of Rupert Murdoch’s $5-billion bid to purchase Dow Jones and its primary asset, the self-same Wall Street Journal. To date, Rupe’s been rebuffed by the putative “owners,” the Bancroft family—who, despite the fact they own only 25 per cent of the equity, control the company through their majority ownership of the voting shares (sound familiar?). The board of Dow Jones, whose fiduciary duty to the shareholders resides rather more with the other 75 per cent than with the Bancrofts, has decided to keep its powder dry. But for how long? Which is where we join the Wall Street Journal article already in progress:

Black Watch: Today’s Top Stories

Posted on May 17, 2007 by Douglas Bell

David Radler is turning out to be a veritable gusher for the defence. Since Monday, his stumblings and “clarifications” have brightened the countenances of all concerned save the prosecution. And to top it off, yesterday, in one fell swoop, he went a long way toward putting himself on Mark Kipnis’s holiday gift list by confirming that the defendant’s $100,000 bonus, far from being his cut of a criminal conspiracy as the government contends, was in fact, as the Chicago Sun-Times reports, a reward for “saving Hollinger millions of dollars by doing legal work that could have gone to outside attorneys.”

The Big Snore

Posted on May 17, 2007 by Roger Martin

It was amusing to watch the hotshot audit committee members competing with one another to see who could look more foolish on the stand. But in the end, it got to be as pathetic as the first round of American Idol, where utter humiliation is the order of the day (even if the thought of Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell judging the performances of Richard Burt, Marie-Josée Kravis and Big Jim Thompson has some appeal). So, I was looking forward to last week’s testimony by David Radler.

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Black Watch: Today’s Top Stories

Posted on May 16, 2007 by Douglas Bell

Another day, another analogy to an arcane courtroom drama. This time it’s The Caine Mutiny. What with David Radler going all Captain Queeg and Gus Newman drawing out his madness à la José Ferrer, all that remains to be seen is who Gus pitches a drink at during the after party. And if things continue to go as they are, once Ron Safer’s through with him, they’ll have to lead Radler out on a leash.

“Truth” or Consequences

Posted on May 16, 2007 by Alan D. Gold

Much has been made of the fact that David Radler is testifying before his own sentencing, which can have a negative impact if the prosecution decides he did not testify “truthfully.” Calling the version of the relevant history that the prosecution agrees with—because it builds their case against Black and the other accused—“the truth” begs a crucial question. If nothing else, it constantly reminds the jury their loyal servants in the prosecutor’s office are not just presenting evidence; they are putting forth “the truth” as they believe, in all their public service earnestness, to the bottom of their public servant hearts, to be the one and only.

Black Watch: Today’s Top Stories

Posted on May 15, 2007 by Douglas Bell

The ping-ponging wisdom of the press was once described to me, sensibly I thought, as similar to that of a school of fish. Since each individual fish is primarily interested in eating, reproducing and defecating, they each swim only to keep up with the fish in front. Hence, the school, as such, heads in whatever direction best suits those collective needs. And so it goes in the trial of Conrad Black. When it appeared that David Radler was getting the better of Eddie Greenspan, the press reported one after the other on Black’s grave demeanour in the face of his impending doom. Yesterday, when it was Radler’s turn to take some stick, sure enough Black’s demeanour was reported as positively ebullient, what with the prospect of freedom’s open road stretching out before him. I’m probably as guilty as the next perch, but there are days when the instinct for mocking trumps the instinct for serious contemplation, and this, friends, is one of those days.

Fell on Deaf Ears

Posted on May 14, 2007 by Douglas Bell

As we near the end of Radler’s testimony, and both sides madly sow the seeds of what each hopes will, in the decisive moment, flower into either sufficient certainty or reasonable doubt, I keep coming back to a particular section in Tom Bower’s book. In it, he reports that at the height of Black’s initial run-in with Richard Breeden (in late 2003–early 2004), RBC Capital Markets chair Tony Fell (a childhood friend of Black’s) flew to New York to offer his Lordship advice. “Arriving at the agreed hour,” Bower writes, “Fell grew angry as he was kept waiting. On his return to Toronto he announced, ‘Conrad hasn’t got a hope in hell as far as I’m concerned.’ Black had lost another ally.”

Black Watch: Today’s Top Stories

Posted on May 14, 2007 by Douglas Bell

With Radler’s cross-examination set to finish today and the defence contemplating the possibility of a rebuttal from Black, we look quickly at the off-days coverage, which featured the usual bric-a-brac of armchair quarterbacking and other assorted summaries and marginalia. The best of the lot came from the Globe’s Paul Waldie, who described from court documents Lord Black’s behaviour in the midst of selling his Park Avenue apartment, a deal that went sour:

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Performance Review

Posted on May 14, 2007 by Patrick Gossage

Apparently the Chicago courtroom atmosphere was laden with tension as the long-awaited star witness, David Radler, began “finger pointing” in earnest, accusing Black of hatching a fiendish plot that lined both their pockets with shareholder booty. All such high drama, as we keep being told.

Courtstalker Part IV

Posted on May 11, 2007 by Douglas Bell

The full content of Conrad Black’s “Summer Musings” memo from September 2002 was shown to the jury Wednesday, much to the annoyance of the deflated press Lord’s lawyers. They promptly demanded a mistrial on grounds of “class prejudice.” Judge Amy St. Eve barely missed a beat slapping them down and then ordering Ed Genson not to call for a mistrial in front of the jury again.

Black Watch: Today’s Top Stories

Posted on May 11, 2007 by Douglas Bell

With scads of reporting this morning suggesting that the four-square solidarity among the defence attorneys is beginning to fray (particularly as regards the tenor and conduct of Eddie’s did-so-did-not cross of David Radler), I note a similar disharmony among their equivalents in the press benches. You will recall that at the end of week one, Peter Worthington, the senior partner in the firm of Steyn, Blatchford & Worthington, more or less guaranteed that Conrad would walk and, having donned the vestments of “the decider,” promptly decamped for home.

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That’s My Story and I’m Sticking To It

Posted on May 11, 2007 by Alan D. Gold

Last posting I discussed the real legal issues and the relevant evidence. There is a school of thought that discounts the significance of both those things. A criminal trial, this popular theory says, is a battle between competing “stories.” The jury, for reasons beyond conscious awareness, becomes engaged by the story of one side or the other, and then interprets the evidence so as to support their preconception.

Black Watch: Today’s Top Stories

Posted on May 10, 2007 by Douglas Bell

In case you or anyone else in this solar system were under any misconception or illusion, Eddie Greenspan made it quite clear yesterday that he thinks David Radler is a liar. In the couple of hours that Radler was on the stand, Eddie made the dreaded accusation, by one scribe’s count, over a hundred times. By the time the Battling Bickersons of Room 1241 are done, it’ll be in the thousands. The press, of course, reported every variation on the theme. “Not entirely truthful means you’re lying,” “You must perform or lose your deal” and the ever popular sidecar “It is a game for you, isn’t it?” After perusing the avalanche, I was reminded of nothing so much as the famed Monty Python sketch The Argument Clinic:

Return of The Courtstalker

Posted on May 10, 2007 by Douglas Bell

Once again, from the bowels of the Everett McKinley Dirksen Building, 219 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, Illinois, arrives a missive from The Courtstalker:

Black Watch: Today’s Top Stories

Posted on May 9, 2007 by Douglas Bell

As we head into day three of David Radler’s j’accuse, the battle lines along which the press wages its various campaigns are more and more deeply entrenched. Battlefield analogies are always dicey, but this really is turning into Vimy (minus the heroism). Radler, having finally—and, from most accounts, effectively—laid out the nature of the conspiracy to defraud Hollinger International’s shareholders, was the subject of the following, penned by the Post’s Theresa Tedesco, a junior partner in the public relations firm of Steyn, Blatchford and Worthington:

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Skim Jim

Posted on May 9, 2007 by Roger Martin

Last week’s testimony of former Illinois governor Jim Thompson stunned even me, though I was already jaded by the previous week’s testimonies of Richard Burt and Marie-Josée Kravis. The implication of the Thompson testimony is nothing less than that we should throw out, trash, absolutely abandon the central premise of modern governance of public corporations.

Dazed and Confused

Posted on May 8, 2007 by Douglas Bell

With the Trial of the Millennial Epoch in something of a lull this sunny afternoon—what with the defence pawing the contents of those famous boxes hunting for exculpatory evidence and unpaid invoices—I find my mind wandering a bit. Most days I click through the ongoing roster of stories pertaining to the case, and every so often I come upon a putative fact or argument that, while in all likelihood hovers somewhere near the truth, nonetheless leaves me with my head cocked like a confused cocker spaniel. And in these instances, I almost always leave the items alone because, in journalistic expression, ambiguity is the enemy of clarity. But like I say, we’re on a sort of busman’s holiday, so here then are three instances of what I’m talking about. The first is from this morning’s National Post, on the infamous birthday party:

Black Watch: Today's Top Stories

Posted on May 8, 2007 by Douglas Bell

image for Black Watch: Today's Top Stories

The laptopped elites from three continents having descended once again on Room 1241, the mighty wattage of their hived mind was fixed most especially on the various ways and means of parsing the colour pink: “bright pink,” “hot pink,” “shocking pink,” “blazingly pink” and, in a breathtaking paradigm shift in the struggle to fathom the Radlerian neck attire, somebody even suggested “fuchsia.” Pray to God he doesn’t wear the damn thing twice.

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Hard Knock Life

Posted on May 7, 2007 by Douglas Bell

In case you were wondering what everybody’s favourite hip hop star’s been up to lately, submerged as I am in the minutiae of the United States v. Conrad Black et al., I can tell you this much: looking for a blessed relief from courthouse hostilities, I spent Saturday night watching Floyd Mayweather beat the crap out of Oscar De La Hoya. I noticed Fitty Cent was rappin’ for Mayweather as he led him to the ring. In other news from the ’hood, R. Kelly has retained Black’s co-counsel Edward Genson to defend him against child pornography charges, and the next morning, perusing page 14 of the New York Times’ Sunday Style section, I was drawn to a photograph of former Hollinger International board member Marie-Josée Kravis chillin’ ’n’ stylin’ with Jay-Z the night after her final day of testimony.

Black and Browne and Read All Over

Posted on May 7, 2007 by Douglas Bell

Those whom the gods would destroy they would first make into a sideshow in a sleazy British tabloid scandal involving a disgraced peer and—gasp!—a Canadian “rent boy.” Former BP CEO John Browne, a.k.a. Baron Browne of Madingley, was forced to resign last week over allegations that he used company funds to support his lover, Jeff Chevalier. Over the weekend, Chevalier gave a lengthy interview to The Mail on Sunday, which included the following description of a fancy-pants party he attended with Browne in the south of France:

Black Watch: Today’s Top Stories

Posted on May 4, 2007 by Douglas Bell

In the movie The Perfect Storm, there’s the bit where the benighted ship, the Andrea Gail, having been tossed and turned this way and that, passes into the eye of the hurricane. As a result, there’s a sort of physical relief for George Clooney and the crew, even though they know they’ll soon be back in the shit, their fate more or less sealed. I suspect the players in U.S. v. Conrad Black et al. are feeling very much the same way. With insiders suggesting that we’ll still be at this in August—despite Judge Amy St. Eve’s assurances to jurors that they’ll all be home and dry for Canada Day, er, Independence Day—the three-day break between Jim Thompson and David Radler comes as a blessed, if not unmitigated, relief. As to this morning’s news, the Globe’s Paul Waldie reports that the defence, in what one assumes is their version of Doug Flutie’s last-second pass against Miami University, has petitioned St. Eve to limit Radler’s testimony:

Murdoch Most Foul

Posted on May 4, 2007 by Douglas Bell

Among the stray thoughts that ran through Conrad Black’s mind this week, I’m certain more than a few were reserved for Rupert Murdoch. While Black was stuck in a Chicago courtroom watching his former prize ponies crap all over the stable, Murdoch was busy making a $5-billion offer to acquire Dow Jones and its jewel in the crown, The Wall Street Journal. For Black, the ironies run deep. Where to start? First, it must be galling to see Murdoch, whom Black has all but named as the unseen puppeteer orchestrating the media’s campaign against him (Tom Bower’s biography–hatchet job particularly), expressing and acting on his ambitions in so public a manner. Just seven months ago, in the pages of his former property The Daily Telegraph, Black promised to wreak havoc on his unnamed nemesis: “How did The Sunday Times, and its book-publishing affiliate, HarperCollins, Bower’s publisher…sink to such depths? What depraved them to the point of publishing such sewage? To pose the question is to answer it; everyone with any interest in the British media knows who is responsible for the collapsed standards of these entities. [He] must answer for it eventually.”

Black Watch: Today’s Top Stories

Posted on May 3, 2007 by Douglas Bell

Any lingering doubt (and there can’t have been much) that may have plagued Lord Black et al. as to whether they got their money’s worth from yesterday’s cross-examination of Jim Thompson was put to rest at 9:08 this morning when Peter Lattman wrote in the Wall Street Journal Law Blog:

The Burt and Kravis Show

Posted on May 2, 2007 by Roger Martin

The timing is rarely this good, so I might as well take advantage of it. In my last two pieces, I argued, among other things, that shareholders are delusional if they think that their board will protect them from a wily and greedy CEO. Conveniently, last week’s testimony by two independent directors of Hollinger International proved my point beyond, as they say in the legal business, a reasonable doubt.

Black Watch: Today's Top Stories

Posted on May 2, 2007 by Douglas Bell

With even the odd Brit straggling back to Room 1241 to hear the testimony of Big Jim Thompson (who, if you believe the prosecution, wears every honourable vestment save the shoes of the fisherman), the cacophony of interpretation and theorizing is about to hit 11. It’s at times like these I turn to the wisdom of my favourite Franciscan friar and ask myself, “What would William of Occam think at a time like this?” OK, that’s a little rich, but Occam’s famous first principle of logical reasoning (otherwise known as Occam’s razor) is a handy tool: “All things being equal, the simplest solution tends to be the best one.” So, here’s to the Star’s Rick Westhead, whose efforts at parsing yesterday’s doings win the Occam prize for clarity and precision.

Black Watch: Today’s Top Stories

Posted on May 1, 2007 by Douglas Bell

It’s all hands on deck as the prosecution puts the former four-term governor of Illinois, big Jim Thompson, on the stand. Once Sussman et al. have led their evidence—if yesterday’s sparks between Kravis and Greenspan are any indication—Thompson’s cross-examination promises to be a real donnybrook. On a couple of occasions yesterday, Judge St. Eve was forced to separate the combatants:

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