Fearing reprisal, Siegelman has largely refrained until now from directly challenging the judge, who was a target of a dozen columns in 2007 alone by Harper's contributor and law professor Scott Horton. Most of the columns alleged that the judge committed massive ethical breaches in Siegelman's case and in other activities, with many of the allegations related to the judge's receipt of federal dollars via his closely held military contracting company Doss Aviation, Inc.
In May, I took the research further in a HuffPo column: "Siegelman Deserves New Trial Because of Judge's ˜Grudge', Evidence Shows".$300 Million in Bush Military Contracts Awarded to Judge's Private Company.
Also, Republican whistleblower Dana Jill Simpson provided Congress in 2007 with sworn testimony that she had heard from fellow Republicans that Siegelman would be eliminated from politics by a criminal indictment and that Fuller "hated Siegelman and therefore would "hang him in the criminal case. Those she named have denied the allegations, but none of them have done so under oath, subject to cross-examination.
A Republican aged 56, Scrushy is serving a seven-year sentence from Fuller after being convicted of bribery-related charges for donating to an education non-profit at Siegelman's request in 1999 and then being reappointed by Siegelman to a state board on which Scrushy had served under three previous governors. Siegelman, 63, is free on bond after receiving a slightly longer sentence, largely for the same conduct.
In 2007, Fuller ordered the defendants to begin serving time immediately, without the customary appeal bond for white-collar defendants. News cameras recorded the defendants' shame in being taken from the court in shackles without the traditional opportunity to say farewell to family members, including Scrushy's crying children.
Siegelman was then placed in solitary confinement, and shuttled through the federal prison system to prevent contact with family, supporters and the media as if the government regarded him as a Third World terrorist detainee who needed to be held incommunicado by rendition.
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