Mock Jurors in Fieger Case Reflected Bush Credibility Crisis, Lawyer Says

Mock jurors hearing evidence in a case against Michigan lawyer Geoffrey Fieger overwhelmingly expressed a distrust of government, an attitude probably held by jurors in the real trial, says one defense lawyer.

Lawyer Steve Fishman, who represented co-defendant Ven Johnson, told the Detroit Free Press he became sure he would win the case after jurors were asked how many trusted their government to tell the truth. Johnson and Fieger were acquitted earlier this month on charges of making illegal campaign contributions.

Out of 39 mock jurors, only four raised their hands to indicate they trusted the government. "In my father's day," Fishman told the Free Press, "there would have been 38 hands up, with maybe one holdout who'd just gotten out of prison."

Fishman thinks the distrust is the result of what he believes to be the Bush administration’s deceptions on matters ranging from the war in Iraq to the firings of nine federal prosecutors.