Posted on 03/15/2006 2:32:48 PM PST by Aussie Dasher
The Clinton-appointed federal judge who tossed out half the government's death penalty case against convicted 9/11 "20th hijacker" Zacarias Moussaoui on Tuesday has a history of liberal rulings and was once named by Sen. Bob Dole to the "Clinton Hall of Shame."
Even before Judge Leonie Brinkema decimated the government's case by ruling that evidence from key witnesses had been tainted by prosecutorial misconduct, veteran terrorism prosecutor Andrew McCarthy warned Brinkema not to overreact.
Writing about the furor over the prosecution's blunder on NationalReviewOnline Monday, McCarthy said: "It is a tempest in a teapot that is obviously being blown out of proportion as frequently happens with people philosophically opposed to the death penalty, who often portray every run-of-the-mill error in death-penalty proceedings as if it were Armageddon."
McCarthy added that he wasn't sure that the liberal justice indeed held those views, but noted, "This is only a big problem if Judge Brinkema, for whatever reason, decides to turn it into one."
That's exactly what the Clinton appointee did with her ruling the next day - a move that fits the pattern of liberal decisions that prompted Sen. Dole to name Brinkema ten years ago to what he called the "Clinton Hall of Shame."
Dole cited a 1995 case in which Brinkema gave a mere 21 month sentence to a convicted murderer, instead of the seven-to nine-year term called for by federal guidelines.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit later overturned her ruling.
Dole isn't alone in blasting Brinkema for her judicial activism. "It's my impression that she is highly ideological," complained Delaware State Representative Richard Black three years later.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Black was outraged by a 1998 Brinkema decision, that barred the Loudoun County, Va., public library from using filters to prevent adults from viewing sexually explicit material on the Internet.
Noted the Press: "That decision, and another in which Brinkema struck down as unconstitutional a law that prohibits Virginia employees from using government resources to access sexually explicit Web sites, earned her a mocking 'court jester' award for judicial activism from the conservative Family Research Council."
As I understand the facts, the TSA lawyer was sending them transcripts and was also talking about lines of cross-examination they would likely face. The former is a serious no-no. The latter, if handled right (preferably by part of the prosecution team and not some TSA dunderhead) would probably be OK. I have prepped hundreds of witnesses, and it isn't that hard (and doesn't violate court restrictions) to make them indirectly aware of what you can't say to them directly. It does, however, take some skill and sensitivity, which obviously were lacking in the TSA Allstar.
If that's true, it was a major blunder. Witnesses must be shielded from prior trial testimony. That's basic.
Only NewsWaxed could've connected the King of Food Stamps to this event!
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