Thursday, June 14, 2007

Libby's Liberty Lost

or Scooter Screwed or Sucks to be Scooter
Judge Won't Delay Libby's Prison Term for Appeal

By Amy Goldstein and Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, June 14, 2007; 2:32 PM

A federal judge today ordered I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby to report to prison within weeks to begin serving a 30-month sentence for lying to federal investigators about his role in disclosing a covert CIA officer's identity to the media.

In ruling that Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff must begin his prison term, probably within six to eight weeks, U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton rejected defense attorneys' request to allow Libby to remain free on bond while his attorneys appeal his conviction for perjury and obstructing justice.

At the conclusion of a two-hour hearing today, Walton, who presided over Libby's trial, said he disagreed with defense attorneys' contention that Libby's trial had generated a series of close legal questions and judicial rulings that might be reversed by higher courts.

Libby's lawyers said they plan to ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to issue an emergency order delaying the sentence.

When he imposed sentence last week, Walton told Libby that the evidence of his guilt had been "overwhelming" and warned that Libby was unlikely to win a reversal of his conviction in appellate courts.

For that reason, Walton said, he was not inclined to release Libby on bond during his appeal, a process that could last until the end of President Bush's term in office in 2008. The judge agreed, however, to defer his decision until today. more

One problem with being in a high profile case is that there's always a good chance the judge might make decide to make an example of you. I'm betting that the emergency appeal is shot down and Scooter is left hanging in the breeze praying for a pardon (which he'll get).