Juror calls on Bush to pardon Libby

MSNBC ^ | 08 March 2007

[Lorianne]

WASHINGTON - Saying “I don’t want him to go to jail,” a member of the jury that convicted I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby of perjury and obstruction of justice in the CIA leak case called Wednesday for President Bush to pardon Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff.

The woman, Ann Redington, said in an interview on MSNBC’s “Hardball” that she cried when the verdicts against Libby were read Tuesday. She said Libby seemed to be “a really nice guy.”

Redington said “it was very difficult — it was hard” to vote to convict Libby, who was found guilty of four of five felony counts accusing him of lying to a federal grand jury and the FBI. Prosecutors said he hoped to derail a special prosecutor’s investigation of the leak of the identity of Valerie Plame, a covert CIA operative.

“He seemed like a ton of fun. ... I didn’t want to see him and his wife and say he was guilty of a crime,” Redington told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews. But she she said she had no choice given the evidence.

“I think he got caught in a difficult situation where he got caught in the initial lie, and it just snowballed,” she said.

[Lorianne]

Unbelievable!

[george76]

What did she expect ?

[SevenofNine]

Must be OJ Jury that convict Scooter

Actually one of juror told CNN Larry King he want see Karl Rove and Dick Cheney there than Scooter libby I am serious

[The_Reader_David]

Dolts. Every citizen needs to know that jury nullification is a perfectly legitimate practice, indeed one of the reasons for the jury system: to allow the common sense of 12 ordinary citizens to trump juridical niceties and technicalities.

[fkabuckeyesrule]

I don't think he should go to jail but I'm gonna vote guilty anyways. Yeah! These guys make the first OJ jury look like a bunch of rocket scientists.

[Blogger]

Maybe the judge will give him probation just to avoid the appeal.

[flixxx]

I am amazed...if she believed this then how could she have voted him guildty?

[Not now, Not ever!]

she had no choice given the evidence.

Apparently she has never heard of juror nullification, she had her chance and blew it, to Louis's detriment.

(I just can't call a grown man "scooter")

[Paloma_55]

I noticed the Scooter Libby story on the top fold front page of our local paper and I wondered... Did Bill Clinton's Obstruction of Justice and Subjourning Perjury story ever make it to the front page...nahhh

[Robert Lomax]

and what about Sandy Burglar?

[tennmountainman]

Is Bush going to pardon the two border patrol agents too? I hope so.

[montag813]

Actually one of juror told CNN Larry King he want see Karl Rove and Dick Cheney there than Scooter libby I am serious

That was the former Bob Woodward staff WaPo writer and DC neighbor of Tim Russert's. How the defense ever let him on the jury is beyond me.

[Hostage]

Who told her she had no choice? She can always vote her conscience.

The law is the jury and juries are not subject to anything but their own sense of fairness. Otherwise, why have juries?

Why does our legal system include juries if they cannot decide for themselves what is justice.

I'll tell you why we have juries today. We have them so that judges and their courts can deflect responsibility. In this case the judge blinded the jury to the context of the charges. He would not allow them to know there was no underlying crime, that it was all politically motivated. He led the jurors by the nose to the result he wanted them to decide.

And I would wager there was a juror that made it seem there was only one choice, that no one could vote differently. That's why this juror said she had 'no choice'.

[EagleUSA]

Unbelievable!
-----
Well, well, even the "engineered" jury in this kangaroo court cannot stand their guilt in this travesty of justice.

[Paleo Conservative]

Pardon me, but she should have voted "not guilty".

[3D-JOY]

they answered that question today...they has run out of challenges allowed and had to take him...

[Robert Lomax]

no kidding. He's been a disappointment. I now am beginning to believe that the only difference between Bill and George is this....Bill Clinton is like a TV evangelist and there are those who will drink the bs like Jim Jones koolaide. And George, well, he's like that kid in high school who's dad paid for the fancy uniforms. Everyone who loves the team knows he has no talent but they like the uniforms so they don't say squat because that would be disloyal to the team.

[Tirian]

Note the conversation reported by Drudge (bold text mine):

MSNBC host Chris Matthews spoke with Libby juror Ann Redington on HARDBALL. Juror [#10] says she would support a Bush pardon for Libby.

Transcript:

Chris: You're for a pardon out of sympathy for the defendant.

Ann: Yeah, I think in the big picture, um, it kind of bothers me that there was this whole big crime being investigated and he got caught up in the investigation as opposed to in the actual crime that was supposedly committed.

Chris: Which is the leaking of a CIA agents name.

Ann: Exactly.

End

But wait, there was no "big crime" committed, remember?!?! Can these juror statements be used on appeal?

[TigersEye]

"Won't somebody please take responsibility for my actions? What is big government for anyway?"

[ntnychik]

How the defense ever let him on the jury is beyond me.

I heard on the radio that the defense had used all their challenges, and couldn't do anything about the WaPo writer when his name popped up.