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Verdict

by | Aug 22, 2018 | Courtroom

At the end of four days’ deliberations the jury in the Manafort trial in Alexandria returned a partial verdict of guilty on eight of the eighteen counts while remaining hung on the others. I decided ahead of time to just concentrate on Manafort as the verdict was announced and forgo a wider view of the courtroom. There was really no reaction I could see in Manafort or his wife, just the slightest nod on his way out of the courtroom. The one sketch I maybe should have done but didn’t, mainly because of the late hour, was of the two lines of lawyers, government and defense, shaking hands as they passed each other as at the end of a baseball game.

Below are sketches done as we waited for the verdict Monday and Tuesday.

Manafort Trial Goes to the Jury

by | Aug 18, 2018 | Courtroom

After hearing from two final witnesses and closing arguments the jury in the trial of Paul Manafort began deliberations on Thursday morning. It’s too soon to tell how far along the jurors are though a note on Friday indicating that they wished to work two more hours before recessing and returning Monday morning seems to me to indicate they are still working their way through the counts and evidence . . . but who knows?

 

The Core of the Manafort Trial

by | Aug 12, 2018 | Courtroom

Quite a week. Manafort’s former partner in crime, Rick Gates, was called to testify late Monday and remained in the hot seat through Wednesday morning. Then came the real meat of the case in sometimes tedious testimony from, an FBI forensic accountant, an IRS revenue agent, and several banking officers. And on Friday there was an unexplained delay possibly due to a jury issue. We don’t know the reason yet but the judge did go back to the jury area and spent a considerable amount of time in there.

The government is expected to rest on Monday after calling a couple of final witnesses. My sketches from week two are posted below more or less chronologically.

 

Manafort’s New Threads

by | Jul 24, 2018 | Courtroom

Paul Manafort, accustomed to $10,000. House of Bijan suits, appeared instead for yesterday’s pre-trial hearing wearing an Alexandria jail issued prisoner jumpsuit. Looking disheveled, the collar of his green jumpsuit turned inside out, the usually dapper Manafort did not look comfortable. Perhaps that is why he has declined to be present in court today as prospective jurors are summoned to fill out questionnaires.

Judge Ellis granted the defense’s request to delay the start of the trial so that they could have more time to review evidence, but only for a week. The trial is now scheduled to begin next Tuesday, July 31.

Go Directly To Jail

by | Jun 16, 2018 | Courtroom

Special Counsel Mueller’s team asked a judge on Friday to reconsider the conditions of Paul Manafort’s bail in light of additional charges relating to his attempts to influence potential witnesses. It surprised no one when judge Amy Berman Jackson revoked Manafort’s bail and sent him to jail, in fact I was hoping to see a toothbrush in his jacket pocket.

Manafort was not handcuffed as U.S. marshals escorted him out of the courtroom. Pity, it would have made a good image. He did however turn back and wave just before he exited the courtroom.