Legal News

Judge Rejects Fumo's Latest Bid For New Trial

By Brian Harris

 Alleged Revelations to Philadelphia Magazine No Grounds For Hearing, Buckwalter Says
 
By Shannon P. Duffy
U.S. Courthouse Correspondent
 
Less than a week away from his sentencing hearing, former state Sen. Vincent J. Fumo has lost his latest bid for a new trial now that a federal judge has rejected his claim that the jurors were exposed to prejudicial information including Fumo?s previous prosecution on corruption charges.
 
Fumo?s lawyers were demanding a hearing to question jurors after learning of an article in Philadelphia Magazine by former Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Ralph Cipriano that quoted jurors? accounts of finding it impossible to avoid being exposed to media accounts of the trial.
 
In a 23-page opinion handed down late on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter concluded that Fumo?s claims weren?t worthy of a hearing.
 
?The mere fact that some members of the jury may have been exposed to extrajudicial information does not rise to the level of prejudice,? Buckwalter wrote.
 
Fumo faces a sentencing hearing next week for his convictions on charges of bilking the state Senate, a charity he created and a museum of more than $2.5 million to fund his lavish lifestyle, as well as an elaborate cover-up scheme in which he instructed aides to wipe computers clean after learning of an FBI probe.
 
Buckwalter said he was ?extremely reluctant ... [to] haul the jurors back into court and subject them to questioning.?
 
Instead, Buckwalter said, it was clear from the affidavit of Fumo?s lead lawyer, Dennis Cogan, that ?any alleged extrajudicial exposure? the jurors may have experienced was ?harmless.?
 
Buckwalter also quoted a 1993 decision from the U.S. Supreme Court that said ?due process does not require a new trial every time a juror has been placed in a potentially compromising situation. Were that the rule, few trials would be constitutionally acceptable.?
 
In United States v. Olano, the justices went on to say: ?It is virtually impossible to shield jurors from every contact or influence that might theoretically affect their vote. Due process means a jury capable and willing to decide the case solely on the evidence before it, and a trial judge ever watchful to prevent prejudicial occurrences and to determine the effect of such occurrences when they happen.?
 
Fumo?s sentencing hearing is scheduled to begin on Tuesday and could last several days.
 
Buckwalter has already held a pre-sentencing hearing and is expected to issue a series of rulings soon that will dictate how Fumo?s recommended sentence is calculated under the federal guidelines.
 
A probation report said Fumo should face more than 21 years in prison. But that figure could be reduced considerably if Buckwalter sides with the defense on how to apply some of the guidelines calculations.

Full post as published by The Legal Intelligencer Blog on July 09, 2009 (boomark / email).