TPM - good read "How The Manafort Defense Team Succeeded In Sowing Doubt With The Jury"

[NRaleighLiberal]

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/how-manafort-defense-sowed-doubt

By Caitlin MacNeal and Tierney Sneed
August 22, 2018 1:00 pm
After four days of deliberation on the tax fraud and bank fraud charges against Paul Manafort in the Virginia trial, the jury revealed Tuesday that it was hopelessly deadlocked on 10 of the 18 counts he faced, all of which related to charges on bank fraud and failure to report foreign bank reports. It was on these counts that the defense focused its efforts to persuade the jury that the government failed to make its case and the 10 mistrial counts suggest that the defense was somewhat effective in those areas.


Manafort’s attorneys did not offer much of a defense in the trial — they rested their case without calling any of their own witnesses and they offered only a handful of exhibits throughout the weeks-long trial. The defense team did not use one overarching point to make their case, aside from their attempts to blame everything on Manafort’s former deputy, Richard Gates, and Manafort’s accountants. Instead, they used their cross-examination of the prosecution’s witnesses and their closing argument to muddy the water and plant seeds of doubt in jurors’ minds. Given the 10 mistrial counts, it appears they were relatively successful.

The defense’s most effective cross-examinations came in the bank fraud portion of the trial.

Manafort applied for loans at three banks, and the jury found he was guilty of bank fraud for his applications at just two of them. It was on the third — the loans from the Federal Savings Bank — that the defense spent significantly more time trying to persuade jurors that Manafort did not defraud the bank.

They stressed that Steve Calk — who apparently discussed a possible Trump administration role with Manafort during the loan application process — was a majority owner of the bank, suggesting that Calk steered the bank toward approving the loans regardless of the details on Manafort’s loan application.


snip


last paragraph

According to Patrick Cotter, a white collar defense attorney and former federal prosecutor, the defense had help from U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis, who repeatedly interrupted the government when it was questioning witnesses to complain that prosecutors were taking too long, or that their questions weren’t relevant.

“That’s hard to beat, when you’ve got the judge making the defense’ argument for them,” Cotter said.

[JI7]

1. it was the judge, not defense team.

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. hence I included and bolded the last two paragraphs

[spooky3]

4. Agree--but it would also be nice to hear directly

from the jurors. I’m not sure we ever will, though.

[onecaliberal]

3. Last week I said Manafort didn't need to put on a defense because the judge did it for him.

[spooky3]

5. Good one. His defense team will likely have

A more difficult time with the DC trial, though I don’t know whether the evidence is more compelling or the charges harder to prove.

[JI7]

6. i wonder if there was any payoff or if he is just right wing

[sprinkleeninow]

10. Yes. eom

[dalton99a]

9. +1

[marylandblue]

7. I felt from the beginning that the tax charges would be easier than the fraud

We all file taxes, so we understand what it means to hide your income. But loan underwriting is a black box, and if ever applied for a mortgage loan, it can be a confusing process

[GusBob]

8. I think this judge is going to sentence on the light end

He has to follow minimum guidelines but he will go light

Which is bullshit. What we are seeing in America today

You can lie. You can cheat. You can steal. You dont have to pay your bills. You can commit fraud. You can commit adultery. You can impede justice. You can conspire . You can commit treason. You can commit perjury. You can brag about assaulting women. You can be racist.

You can do all of these things and blame it on others

If you are a billionaire,.

This judge can fuck off in hell