Libby Juror: We Should Pardon Him
From Chris Matthews via Drudge:
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.
What I’m getting is that she thinks Libby is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of intending to lie to the FBI, etc. but she also thinks he should be pardoned because she feels sorry for him.
Which seems like a silly position to have. If I were on that jury and believed that Libby intended to lie to the FBI, I wouldn’t want him pardoned. Lying to the FBI and obstructing justice is a serious crime, and if Libby intended to lie he deserves prison time. But if I believed that Libby was indicted by a prosecutor who had spent an enormous amount of time and tax dollars and needed to put someone in court to justify it all, I’d hold out with an “acquit” vote until the rest of the jurors either agreed with me or there was a hung jury. Especially considering that Libby seems to be guilty of little more than not remembering certain events the same way certain reporters did.
