Birmingham Blues

US Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL) reiterated his concerns today about the prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman, saying he’s fairly confident the House Judiciary Committee will include the case in its upcoming review of federal prosecutions around the country that may have been tainted by political influence.  I was surprised to read that US Rep. [...]

Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL) has formally asked the House Judiciary Committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the prosecution of former Gov. Don Siegelman.  Davis, a member of the committee, sent a letter to Chairman John Conyers yesterday detailing the reasons for his request.
Davis’ request is the first formal move by a member of Congress to [...]

Here’s Kyle’s cover story from this week’s issue.

Siegelman: 88 months (7 years, 4 months), $50,000 fine, $181,325 restitution, 500 community service hours and 3 years’ supervised release after completion of sentence
Scrushy: 82 months (6 years, 10 months), $150,000 fine, $267,000 restitution (all to United Way), 500 community service hours and 3 years’ supervised release after completion of sentence
No bond.  They will be taken [...]

Helen Hammons is live-blogging for WSFA’s Courtroom Chronicles.  She expects a decision later today.

UPDATE 2: Kyle revises his prediction, says Thursday will probably be the day and speculates 10-1/2 years for Siegelman, 9 for Scrushy.
UPDATE: Kyle says a sentence could come down late tomorrow, but it’s more likely to be Friday morning. 
But not sentences.  Not yet anyway.  Kyle reports:
After listening to a day and a half of arguments [...]

Today is the second day of the sentencing hearing.  Kyle at Mixed Media is attending, and he has summaries of Day 1 and Day 2, with updates as they happen.
ADDENDUM: TPM Muckraker has a feature on Siegelman’s sentencing.  Thanks, Pat.

The hearing started this morning in federal court in Montgomery.  Yesterday’s Birmingham News reported that it could last several days, characterizing it as a “mini-trial”.
All I have to say right now is if Randy “Duke” Cunningham skated away with only eight years and four months in prison for his multimillion-dollar bribery and corruption scheme (from which [...]

Judge Mark Fuller has denied the remaining defense motions, clearing the way for Tuesday’s sentencing.  I’ll just admit right here that I was one of the people who was furious that Richard Scrushy was acquitted in his HealthSouth fraud trial, and I was feeling the schadenfreude when he was tripped up in Montgomery.
That said, the sentences requested [...]

And by a Republican attorney.  This will be interesting to watch.
In the rough and tumble of Alabama politics, the scramble for power is often a blood sport. At the moment, the state’s former Democratic governor, Don Siegelman, stands convicted of bribery and conspiracy charges and faces a sentence of up to 30 years in prison. [...]