Lawyer for Ex-Ala. Gov Says New Honest-Services Review Is ‘Massive Victory’
The lawyer for former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman is buoyed by a U.S. Supreme Court order Tuesday sending the political corruption case against his client back to a federal appeals court for a new review.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court asked the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review the case against Siegelman and ex-HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy in light of a ruling limiting the law that bars honest-services fraud, according to the Associated Press and the Birmingham News. The Supreme Court ruled last Thursday that the law covers only bribery and kickback schemes.
Siegelman’s lawyer, Sam Heldman, said the Supreme Court order is a “massive victory,” according to the AP account. “I think this is a step toward a final and complete legal victory,” he said.
Siegelman and Scrushy were both sentenced to about seven years in prison in an alleged scheme in which the governor would appoint Scrushy to a hospital review board in exchange for Scrushy arranging $500,000 in donations to Siegelman’s 1999 lottery campaign. They were convicted of both honest services fraud and federal funds bribery.
Some legal experts told the Birmingham News it’s unclear whether any of the charges will be overturned in the new review. Heldman had a different opinion in an interview with the newspaper. “The allegation of acting because a political contributor wants you to act a certain way may be many things, but it is not bribery.”
Siegelman, a Democrat, has alleged that Republicans pushed for his prosecution, a charge denied by federal prosecutors and former White House political adviser Karl Rove. One of his prosecutors was U.S. Attorney Alice Martin, who has also come under fire for her prosecution of the owner of a company that made equipment for the Department of Defense. Critics have questioned whether both prosecutions were politically motivated, a charge that Martin has denied.
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Updated at 12:07 p.m. to correct the spelling of Karl Rove’s name.
