|
 |
| |||
McDougal trial likely go to jury Thursday
April 7, 1999 LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (AllPolitics, April 7) -- The jury in the contempt and obstruction of justice case of Whitewater figure Susan McDougal is expected to begin deliberations Thursday after hearing contentious closing arguments Wednesday. Defense attorney Mark Geragos in his closing blasted the tactics of special prosecutor Ken Starr and his team and said it is hard to believe they were not out to get the president. "It's something so offensive for them to say with a straight face they wanted to look to see if they could clear the president. How dumb do they think we are?" Geragos said. For the prosecution, associate independent counsel Julie Myers asked jurors, "who is more credible? Two career federal prosecutors vs. the defendant who is convicted of four felonies?"
McDougal was convicted with her husband in 1996 of fraud charges related to their failed savings and loan and the Whitewater land development. Her current trial stems from her refusal to answer questions before a federal grand jury investigating President Bill Clinton and Whitewater. McDougal, along with her late husband James, was a business partner with President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Whitewater real estate venture. She has said she declined to testify because Starr's office wanted her to lie about the Clintons and she feared being charged with perjury if she told the truth. She has already served an 18-month prison sentence for civil contempt involving her refusal to testify before the Whitewater grand jury. Two of Starr's prosecutors, Hickman Ewing and Ray Jahn, testified during the trial that they didn't mistreat or coerce McDougal and only wanted the truth. In her closing argument, Myers portrayed McDougal as a chronic liar and publicity-seeker who reveled in telling a phony story of persecution in TV interviews. "She craved the spotlight. She enjoyed the attention. And that was probably her real reason for not testifying, not those lame excuses," Myers said. 'It's not Burger King'Myers told jurors that McDougal was "the key, she was central to the grand jury investigation. The information she had -- it might have been that someone was innocent or that someone did something wrongfully -- but she had information, no doubt about it." "It's not Burger King. The defendant can't have it her way," Myers said. Myers also said to jurors that McDougal was appreciative when Clinton testified on her behalf in 1996, when she was convicted of fraud related to Whitewater business deals. "But when she had information that according to her would help demonstrate the president's innocence ... she selfishly refused to provide it to the grand jury or anyone," Myers told the jury. Myers also mentioned that t first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton testified when she was subpoenaed by the same Whitewater grand jury that McDougal declined to give testimony before. Myers said McDougal was a "stubborn women who craved public attention." She also said McDougal knew in advance that she was going to break the law and called the jail the day before her 1996 grand jury appearance to inquire about what she could bring with her. "She knew what she was doing," Myers argued McDougal has testified that her former husband, James McDougal, at one point urged her to say she had sex with the president to mollify prosecutors eager to get Clinton for something and thereby escape further prosecution herself. "This is something you expect to see in the Third Reich," Geragos told the jury. Mrs. McDougal has denied any intimate relationship with Clinton. "If she was the con artist, the liar, that Ms. Myers made her out to be, wouldn't it have been easier to say `I slept with President Clinton?'" Geragos asked. "She could have gotten on any talk show she wanted." He also noted that Mrs. McDougal had already served 18 months in jail for civil contempt because of her refusal to "become a tool for out-of-control prosecutors." Myers called the suggestion that prosecutors wanted McDougal to say she had a relationship with the president "an allegation that's absolutely unbelievable." Jury instructions may hamper defenseThe judge's instructions to the jury may hamper McDougal's defense. U.S. District Judge George Howard Jr. ruled Tuesday that in deciding the criminal contempt charges, jurors cannot consider evidence that prosecutors wanted something other than McDougal's truthful testimony. The jury may consider her accusations against Starr only on the companion obstruction of justice charge, the judge added. "We were pleased overall" with the instructions, Associate Independent Counsel Mark Barrett said. Barrett said prosecutors blocked a defense request for an instruction that jurors could acquit McDougal of criminal contempt if she proved she had "just cause" to refuse to answer the grand jury questions. Pat Harris, McDougal's fiance and co-counsel for the defense, was matter-of-fact about the instructions. "Some of them we got. Some of them we didn't," he said. Harris said that the instructions compel jurors to find that McDougal "willfully" refused to answer the questions to find her guilty of criminal contempt. The defense was expected to complete its closing arguments later Wednesday and Howard will then orally instruct the federal court jury of six men and six women before deliberations on a verdict get under way. "You have heard evidence that the defendant believed that certain prosecutors wanted something other than her truthful testimony," Howard wrote in his instructions. "This evidence should be considered by you only when considering ... the obstruction of justice charge," the judge wrote. "You are not to consider this evidence when considering" the contempt charges. Another instruction says "the law does not recognize as a defense to these charges that the defendant was motivated to commit her acts by sincere moral, political or religious convictions." McDougal arrived at the courthouse Wednesday accompanied by her parents, five of her six brothers and sisters and other relatives. A member of the California jury that acquitted her on unrelated embezzlement charges was also in the courtroom to show support. The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
|
|||
MORE STORIES:Wednesday, April 7, 1999
• Transcript: Clinton outlines China policy • NATO airstrikes are first big test of 2000 hopefuls • Where are the liberal doves on Kosovo? • New Jersey governor to make Senate intentions known Thursday • McDougal trial likely go to jury Thursday • Gore Web site experiences privacy woes • Traps planned for tree-toppling beaver in Washington • Starr to testify at Senate panel • Hate crime bill fate uncertain • Self-employed top IRS audit targets • Mold delays Senate day care center • Take the check or keep working? • Businessman charged with aiding illegal contributions to DNC • Michigan city's mayor arrested on sexual conduct charges • Lawmaker to introduce Internet privacy bill | ||||