Former governor asks appeals court to throw out conviction

By: BOB JOHNSON Associated Press | Opelika Auburn News
Published: May 23, 2008

MONTGOMERY - Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman asked a federal appeals court Thursday to overturn his conviction in a government corruption case.
In an 84-page motion, Siegelman’s attorneys asked the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to order the former Democratic governor acquitted of all charges or grant him a new trial.
Siegelman and former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy were convicted in June 2006 of bribery and other charges. Scrushy is scheduled to file his appeal brief with the 11th Circuit by June 2.
Siegelman was accused of appointing Scrushy to a hospital regulatory board in exchange for Scrushy arranging $500,000 in donations to Siegelman’s campaign for a lottery. During the trial, former Siegelman aide Nick Bailey testified that Siegelman and Scrushy met privately in the governor’s office in the summer of 1999 and afterward the governor told him Scrushy wanted to be appointed to the Certificate of Need Review Board. Bailey said in exchange, Siegelman wanted a contribution to the lottery campaign.
In the brief, attorneys argue that Bailey did not attend the meeting between Scrushy and Siegelman and that prosecutors never proved there was an explicit agreement between the two men connecting the board appointment to the contributions. The brief also argues that U.S. District Judge William Fuller did not tell jurors such an agreement must be proven in a federal bribery case.
“Bailey confirmed that he did not have firsthand knowledge of anything that Governor Siegelman and Scrushy said to each other,” the brief said.
Siegelman spent nine months in federal prison before the 11th Circuit ordered him released on an appeal bond in March. Siegelman told the Associated Press Thursday he has been working with his attorneys on the appeal since he walked out of the federal prison in Oakdale, La.
“When I was in prison I never lost faith. Now that my freedom rests with the Court of Appeals my faith in the system is stronger than ever,” the former governor said.
Scrushy, who was sentenced to almost seven years in prison, continues to be held at a federal prison in Beaumont, Texas.
Chief prosecutor Louis Franklin said the government would file a response in 60 days.
“The only comment I can make is that we will leave it to 11th Circuit to decide these issues,” Franklin said.
Siegelman’s lead attorney, Vince Kilborn of Mobile, said he believes Siegelman was convicted for participating in legal political activities.
“We’ve presented what we believe are compelling and persuasive reasons why the governor’s conviction should be set aside,” Kilborn said.