Reply #14: Kick: Timing suspicious in Siegelman opinion [View All]

Timing suspicious in Siegelman opinion


(Updated: Thursday, January 10, 2008 8:39 AM CST)
Bob Martin, The Alabama Scene

Last Wednesday afternoon, Mark Fuller, the United States District Court judge who presided at the Don Siegelman trial, made his second attempt to satisfy the U. S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta concerning his decision not to release the former governor on bond pending appeal.

The only reason Fuller initially gave the court after its first request last Sep. 27 was that Siegelman was not likely to be successful in his appeal.

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That apparently wasn’t good enough for the court so on Nov. 7 the judges told Fuller again to “promptly” give them additional reasons why Siegelman should not be released on bond pending appeal. He didn’t give them a whole lot more this time in a 30-page opinion, which was basically a replay of his initial reasoning.

When his reply was made public Wednesday it had been 57 days since the second request from the 11th Circuit was received at the federal courthouse in Montgomery and over three months since the appellate court first told him to “promptly” give the court additional reasons.

http://www.hartselleenquirer.com/articles/2008/01/16/opinion/oped5.txt