Ford works angles on appeal - Asks taxpayers to fund costs of trial transcripts

A day after he was sentenced to 51/2 years in prison, former state senator John Ford and his newly appointed attorney were already working on an appeal.

Ford asked a judge Wednesday to order taxpayers to finance copies of trial transcripts needed for his expected appeal -- a request that could cost $8,000 or more.

The filing seeks a speedy production of the transcripts and signals that Ford will ask for a seldom-granted bond that would keep him out of prison until the appeal is resolved.

"Every case is different,'' said Ford's new attorney, Robert C. Brooks, sizing up his client's chances of obtaining an appeal bond.

Ford filed a notice of appeal Tuesday, hours after he was sentenced. Brooks was appointed to the case after Ford, once a $356,000-a-year consultant, declared he was indigent.

Ford, 65, was sentenced to 66 months in federal prison after a jury found him guilty of taking $55,000 in cash in the FBI's Tennessee Waltz undercover bribery sting. Ford hasn't received a report date, yet defendants generally must report to prison within two to three months after sentencing.

Brooks said he needs transcripts of Ford's three-week trial as well as pretrial and post-trial hearings to determine if procedural errors were committed. "I can't even know what the issues are without reading the transcripts,'' he said.

The motion filed Wednesday seeking those transcripts asks for an expedited release of the documents.

Yet appeal bonds, which allow a defendant to stay out of jail until an appeal is resolved, are seldom granted. To get one, a defendant generally must establish there's a likely chance that the appeal will result in a reversal of the verdict, a new trial or a lesser sentence.

"You might have one case (out of 100) that absolutely should be reversed -- and this might be the case,'' Brooks said. The lawyer said he expects it will take two to three weeks to prepare and file the request for an appeal bond.

Prosecutor Tim DiScenza declined comment. Yet in a written response filed Wednesday afternoon, DiScenza opposed producing transcripts at government expense, something he said would come at "considerable cost to taxpayers.'' Such an expedited request could cost more than $4 a page, and there likely are thousands of pages.

The prosecutor's response concluded that Ford has little chance of prevailing, adding that "the granting of an appeal bond would be inappropriate.''

John Ford (leaving the Federal Building Tuesday), found guilty of taking $55,000 in cash bribes, says he is indigent.

We can put that on your citi-Bank sir.

2 posted on 08/30/2007 10:48:45 AM PDT by jokar (for it is by grace, http://www.gbible.org)

This guy has got some stones!!

Even after being convicted and sentenced he is still trying to rob the taxpayers of $8,000.00.

UFB!!!!

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