by Jamie Burch
Published: Fri, March 06, 2009 - 12:12 pm CST
Last Updated: Fri, March 06, 2009 - 4:10 pm CST
A federal appeals court has upheld most of the corruption charges against former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman.The 11th Circuit Court in Atlanta struck down two of the seven charges that Siegelman was convicted of in 2006 and ordered a new sentencing hearing. That means Siegelman's seven-year sentence could be reduced. But he won't get off entirely: The court upheld key bribery, conspiracy and obstruction counts against him in what prosecutors described as a scheme that put Richard Scrushy on a state hospital
regulatory board when he was at the helm of HealthSouth. The court
upheld all six counts against Scrushy and his sentence of almost
seven years.
Siegelman, 63, and Scrushy, 56, were convicted in 2006 by a
federal court jury in Montgomery, where Siegelman was a prominent
Democrat with a political career dating back three decades.
Siegelman has claimed his prosecution was pushed by Republicans,
including former White House adviser Karl Rove, a claim career
federal prosecutors who handled the case have emphatically denied.
Rove, a Texas strategist, was once heavily involved in Alabama
politics.
Prosecutors argued that Siegelman appointed Scrushy to the
influential board in exchange for Scrushy arranging $500,000 in
contributions to the governor's campaign for a state lottery in
1999.
Siegelman also was convicted on a single obstruction of justice
count linked to the purchase of a motorcycle with the help of a
lobbyist.
The former governor, who was sent to federal prison at his
sentencing in June 2007, was freed last year on appeal bond. But
the courts ruled the wealthy Scrushy, who turned Birmingham-based
HealthSouth into one of the nation's biggest rehabilitation chains,
was a flight risk.
Siegelman's attorneys said he would ask the full 11th Circuit to
review the case and will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court if
necessary.
In an e-mail to supporters, Siegelman said he was disappointed
but will continue to fight.
"We will get through this and we will win," he said.
Siegelman's chief attorney, Vince Kilborn, said if Siegelman is
resentenced, he will ask the judge to sentence him "to no further
jail time other than the nine months he has already served."
Scrushy's attorney, Art Leach, and chief prosecutor Louis
Franklin did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
The appeals court judges, in a unanimous decision, rejected a
key defense argument that prosecutors failed to prove there was an
explicit "quid pro quo" agreement between Siegelman and Scrushy,
which is required in federal bribery cases. The defense also argued
that U.S. District Judge Mark Fuller did not adequately instruct
jurors that such an agreement was necessary.
In a 68-page opinion, the panel said that the instructions
Fuller gave jurors was sufficient. The judges also rejected defense
arguments of juror misconduct involving a claim that some jurors
exchanged e-mails and were subjected to outside influences during
jury deliberations.
The judges ruled that Fuller adequately investigated the juror
misconduct charges.
"We conclude that the district court did not abuse its
discretion in holding that there was nor reasonable possibility of
prejudice to the defendants arising out of the exposure of the jury
to this extrinsic evidence," the judges wrote.
The judges also threw out defense arguments that the indictments
against Siegelman and Scrushy came after the five-year statute of
limitations in bribery cases had expired. The judges said they
waived their right to make that claim by not raising the argument
until after the trial.
The three-judge panel - Chief Judge J.L. Edmondson, Judge Gerald
Bard Tjoflat and Senior Judge James C. Hill - threw out two mail
fraud counts that accused Siegelman of helping Scrushy benefit from
being on the Certificate of Need Review Board.
Prosecutors said Scrushy's company benefited when the board
approved HealthSouth's applications for a high-tech scanner and to
build a rehabilitation hospital in Phenix City. But Scrushy was off
the board at the time those decisions were made and the judges said
there was "no evidence that Siegelman participated in the events
forming the basis for the charges."
Siegelman Files Appeal With U.S. Supreme Court
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