Greasing the justice system
By Ed Lowe
Senior Writer
One of the oldest principles of common law states that "justice delayed is justice denied." The idea of the rule was to permit people who had been indicted for crimes to have a speedy trial and to either pay their debt to society or be removed from the cloud of doubt that always attends a pending trial. That's especially true of criminal matters.
The problem is that the rule is frequently ignored. Criminal defendants languish in jail— regardless of their guilt—until the system gets around to bringing them to trial. Many wait weeks, months and in some cases even years before a judge bangs his gavel and says "Court's in session." The idea was to protect defendants who are presumed innocent until proven guilty. We pride ourselves on that system and sometimes it even works.
It works sometimes because we want it to work. But it sometimes falls into a crack known as clout. Celebrity defendants are often held on bail for long periods of time until their attorneys are fairly certain that prospective jurors have lost interest in the case. Defense lawyers know that by delaying the trial, their clients have a better chance of being freed—or at least of being found guilty of lesser charges.
But the worst examples of the abuse of the system are the moneyed people who are indicted for crimes and who have their lawyers find reason after irrational reason to delay the trial. This is true currently in the case of former Governor Ryan. His attorney, Dan Webb, is a very able advocate. He has represented the U.S. government as a prosecutor. Now he represents defendants in criminal trials—not the least important of whom is the ex-Governor.
Back in December, Webb pleaded for a continuance in Ryan's trial because, he told the court, he was busy on another trial and had to conclude that one. The judge, Federal District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer said, at that time, that it would take "acts of God, physical illness or death" to convince her to postpone the March trial date she set at that time. Pallmeyer, a 1998 appointee of President Clinton, graduated from the University of Chicago Law School. Based on those credentials, she ought to know better.
Now, Dan Webb has gone into court again and said that the trial, related somehow to tobacco litigation, was dragging on and that he couldn't make it to the March 14 trial date set by the judge. So what did she do? She extended it another six months. Her reasoning, however fuzzy it might seem to you and me, was that to insist that Ryan get another lawyer to represent him would require a delay to allow that new lawyer to get up to speed in representing Ryan on the corruption charges he is facing.
It would seem that Judge Pallmeyer could have insisted that Webb try the case; appoint another lawyer from his multi-attorney firm, Winston and Strawn, where he is a partner; or find someone to continue the tobacco case. As it stands, the preponderance of evidence against Ryan, at least that which has appeared publicly, indicates that he will have a tough time establishing his innocence. To delay the trial will keep Ryan, if he is convicted, out of jail longer. Then there will be appeals, and while the lawyers pad their bank accounts, buy new vacation homes and bigger Mercedes cars, the public interest in seeing justice done will not be served. The fruits of corruption—the money that it produced—is buying time that belongs to the people of Illinois.
Judge Pallmeyer should be made to eat her words. There is no act of God, no physical illness and no death that has caused the delay of the trial. The interests of justice work on both sides of the table and the people are entitled to justice just as much as the defendant is. Thus, we are being cheated out of a promised relief from corruption.
What sort of example does this kind of legal maneuvering leave to the public's perception of the justice system? Ryan has been under indictment for well over a year—it will be almost two years from indictment before the new trial schedule is set to begin. Any petty criminal out on bail for a minor charge would delight in a two-year delay before his trial begins. During that period, witnesses would get lost, or maybe move away. Some victims would move out and not be available to testify. Some police memories would blur over time. And criminals would be better able to get out of their jams without serving any jail time. But white collar criminals can afford attorneys who will delay the trial for unconscionable periods of time—and find judges who will go along with those delays.
Ryan isn't the only example. There's currently a trial, delayed for more than two years, of a former TV action star who is accused of murdering his wife. The trial finally got started and is a delight for the tabloid papers.
But more importantly, there are thousands of people who depended on the honesty of their corporate bosses to maintain and enhance their retirement funds and to provide security for their old age. All those funds are gone in a mist of accounting fraud. And Ken Lay and other Enron executives are still walking the streets. Why? Because the clout they wield has kept the entire matter out of court while they live a high life on the proceeds of their bloated salaries and the maneuvering they did with corporate funds, stock options and bonus payments.
Where's justice? It's not in the court system that permits those abuses. Maybe we should read our history books and find out how it used to be done. Where's Judge Roy Bean when we need him? |
