APPEALS COURT GRANTS FORMER ALABAMA GOVERNOR SIEGELMAN HEARING.

[elleng]

Last edited Sat Apr 19, 2014, 07:26 PM - Edit history (1)

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear an appeal filed by former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman. Court officials say the hearing is tentatively scheduled for the week of July 28.

Siegelman is serving a 78 month sentence for bribery, conspiracy and other charges. He's currently at Oakdale Federal Detention Center in Oakdale, Louisiana.

Court documents filed in the Middle District of Alabama detail records needed for this appeal. Those records include nine volumes of pleadings, 113 volumes of transcripts, and three sealed boxes/exhibits.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals is located in Atlanta.

http://www.wsfa.com/story/25284881/appeals-court-grants-former-alabama-hearing

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Good

kick and R

[Mnemosyne]

2. A travesty. nt

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

3. Best Wishes Mr. Siegelman. nt

[ljm2002]

4. Well that's some good news for a change...

...I sincerely hope Siegelman wins and that his sentence is overturned.

[rhett o rick]

5. I wish that a Democratic Admin would provide help to a political prisoner

that tried to fight the Bush Crime Family.

[madfloridian]

6. Me, too.

Should have happened long ago.

[Enthusiast]

25. Why would this administration go against the Bush crime family?

Wouldn't that be out of character? You make no sense.

[rhett o rick]

26. I see your point but explain what happened to stifle the Ohio attempt at stealing the 2012 election.

Karl appeared to be befuddled (unless it was an act) that something went wrong with his plan. Who stifled the BFEE's plan?

[Enthusiast]

28. That's one of the great electoral mysteries of our time.

Equal to Gore and Kerry whimpily riding into the sunset after they won, but lost, a presidential election.

[OnyxCollie]

7. K&R. nt

[Spitfire of ATJ]

8. He's guilty of the crime of being a Democrat who was elected governor of Alabama....

According to Karl Rove.

[elleng]

19. Exactly.

[Raksha]

36. +1000

[raging moderate]

9. Many good wishes, Mr. Siegelman.

Perhaps this travesty will end soon.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

10. Very good news

How Gov. Siegelman has kept his sanity is a mystery to me. I remember years ago hearing him interviewed a number of times on Thom Hartmann's program. But for the most part, he's been abandoned by Democrats. Shameful.

[lillypaddle]

11. Fingers crossed

It's about time.

[FreedRadical]

12. Didn't he make some kind of confession?

I mean I know he was set up by Rove and the Canary's.

[okaawhatever]

18. No. The issue isn't whether "he did it or not" the issue is whether Siegelman's appointment of

Scrushy constitutes quid pro quo.

Siegelman and former HealthSouth chief Richard Scrushy were convicted in 2006. Prosecutors say they arranged $500,000 in contributions to Siegelman's campaign for a lottery in exchange for the governor appointing Scrushy to a hospital regulatory board.

From the FreeSiegelman.com website:

The supposed crime was that Scrushy, through HealthSouth,
made a major contribution to a lottery fund (not Gov. Siegelman's
campaign fund), in return for which Siegelman appointed Mr. Scrushy
to the Certificate of Need Board, which governs hospital expansions.

The indictment overlooked that Richard Scrushy previously served on
the CON board under three previous governors -- Guy Hunt, Jim
Folsom, Jr. and Fob James. The charges also ignored that Mr.
Scrushy didn't even want to be on this board. Instead, he saw it as
public service. More importantly, HealthSouth didn't need Mr. Scrushy
on the board, and the board passed nothing beneficial to HealthSouth
or Scrushy during Scrushy's term in question.

Further, the CON board did not, and does not, regulate HealthSouth,
nor does it regulate any other health care company in Alabama.

Significantly, neither of the two financial contributions at issue came
from Mr. Scrushy himself. The first came from a Maryland company,
Integrated Health Services, and went to the Alabama Education
Lottery Initiative -- not to Gov. Siegelman. The second came from
HealthSouth Corp. -- not Mr. Scrushy -- and went to the Alabama
Education Foundation (which acquired the debt of the failed lottery
initiative) and not to Gov. Siegelman.

Admittedly, Mr. Scrushy inspired these contributions, and they may
have gained him greater access to Siegelman generally. So what?
That is exactly what thousands of contributors to Gov. Riley's
campaign expect. It also is what state legislators expect their
contributors will receive, namely access. There is no law against this. It
is part of the democratic process.

There is no question as to Siegelman appointing Scrushy to the board. It was done in full public view, the donations were also publicly acknowledged. The reason Siegelman did everything in public view is because no one thought allowing someone to serve on a non-paying board for another term constituted quid pro quo.

[elleng]

20. Thanks for the excellent explanation, okaa.

[Cha]

13. OH GOOD! Thanks elleng!

[sabrina 1]

14. Omg that is great news!! Too late of course, this NEVER should have happened, but I am really

glad that he has not given up. It makes me SICK to know that Karl Rove was behind all this and so much more, and is still walking around free. Sickening.

[Enthusiast]

30. Rove should be waterboarded until we get the answers.

It's not torture. More like a fraternity prank, you know.

[hlthe2b]

15. It is unfathomable to me how this travesty has continued so long. Good luck, Mr. Siegelman

[steve2470]

16. kick and rec ! nt

[malaise]

17. Great news

Rec

[LoisB]

21. It's about time.

[DFW]

22. I met Siegelman at the 2008 Denver convention

Nicest guy you could ever want to meet. He said whatever happens to him individually was not important, but the scheme used to remove him from office and railroad him into jail was highly dangerous as a generic political tool.

"And for each unharmful, gentle soul misplaced inside a jail........."---Bob Dylan, "Chimes of Freedom"

[chuckstevens]

23. Just Help bring Down Karl Rove in the Process!

Yes, I want Don freed from political persecution, but that is not enough! Sweet Jesus, could we FINALLY prove that Turdblossom is guilty of a crime and send his treasonous ass to prison where it belongs?

[The Wizard]

24. Can anyone explain

how Karl Rove has avoided a poison dart to the neck?

[chknltl]

31. Sure. Those who hate him enough to do that are called 'Liberals'....

... and turdblossoms are a protected species. No true Liberal would deliberately cause direct harm to a protected species.

[Raksha]

37. Turdblossoms are a protected species?

I didn't realize they were endangered. It seems to me they are quite invasive, kinda like Roundup resistant weeds.

[chknltl]

54. Yep, protected! Ever try to get a permit to harvest one? n/t

[rhett o rick]

47. While I agree that the left hates him and wouldnt stoop to his level, there are more than one

capitalist group vying for king of the mountain. Maybe the Koch Bros want to displace the BFEE. They might want to see Karl neutralized. I mean they gotta be pissed that Karl has taken their boy Christie out.

[chknltl]

51. Yep, we wouldn't stoop to that level, the proof being that we can't even agree to put

anyone from the BFEE under Congressional investigation for likely crimes against humanity. I was here when the anti impeach crowd shouted us down! My position remains the same: If the USA has as it boasts so loudly to the world, a government OF BY and FOR it's People then who is ultimately responsible for the crimes committed by OUR government? The answer to that question is NOT "We don't have enough votes in Congress"! Our crooks are indeed a 'Protected Species'! This observation is not bitterness on my part, just profound sadness because I firmly believe in democracy as being the best form of government and we are doing our best to show the world that it ain't the noblest.

[rhett o rick]

52. If we had a democratic republic, the people might have a say in what

our government does in our name.

[chknltl]

53. Hopefully the world understands the difference between democratic republic....

...and whatever it is we currently have in the USA. I can not help but be reminded of those good citizens of postwar Germany who were marched through the then recently liberated concentration camps. They did not have a democratic republic either.

[brett_jv]

27. FREE DON!!!

Obama should've pardoned him, long ago, if you ask me.

Fuck Karl Rove ...

[chuckstevens]

40. Ding Ding Ding!

We Have A Winner!

[rhett o rick]

48. I am guessing that Pres Obama is saving his pardon to off-set the pardons of

Bush and Cheney and the gang.

[McCamy Taylor]

29. He is in jail for something Rick Perry has done repeatedly. Let him out.

[santamargarita]

32. Governor Siegelman has been a political prisoner far too long!

[librechik]

33. it's about time--Good luck, Governor! n/t

[WillyT]

34. HUGE K & R !!!

[Babel_17]

35. kick (nt)

[Casandia]

38. Thanks for this

news. Keeping my fingers crossed that this finally will be over. I think of how Eric Holder let the senator from Alaska go free, but not Don Siegelman. Sickens me how Obama and other democrats in power turned their backs on this man.

[bpositive]

39. My fear or annoyance is

That he will have served his whole sentence before this is resolved.

[certainot]

41. thanks. more people might read this if you put siegelman in the headline....

[elleng]

42. Done

[certainot]

45. great, i was trying to remember if he was georgia or alabama or...

[lucca18]

43. The very best to you Governor Siegelman!

What a complete travesty of injustice this had been!

[pnwmom]

44. I'm so happy to hear this. Hope this works out. n/t

[YOHABLO]

46. Yes a pardon from Obama is long overdue. Is he waiting untill he exits the W.House?

[rhett o rick]

49. I think he will pardon Gov Siegelman when he pardons Bush and Cheney. nm

[AzDar]

50. K & R