It isn’t that I’ve gotten bored with the Bell trial. It’s just that things have been slow and repetitive over the past few days.
The defense has wrapped up closing arguments. I’d go into detail, but you’ve heard it before: it was all “Ratso” Rizzo’s fault.
“We’re here for Mr. Rizzo’s sins, ladies and gentlemen,” [George] Mgdesyan [attorney for councilman Luis Artiga] said. “We’re here because Mr. Rizzo became financially greedy.”
Also, the prosecution failed to prove their case, why wasn’t the city attorney called, and the whole case is political anyway:
[Leo] Moriarty [attorney for councilman Victor Bello] also hinted that the case against the council members was brought because then-Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley was running for attorney general. He said that if the prosecution put a mirror in front of itself, nothing would appear.
(Isn’t Moriarty a great name for a defense lawyer?)
“Almost like being a vampire, almost like being an evil — they can’t see the reflection because there’s nothing there.”
Moriarty likened himself to Don Quixote, “a man who wanted to fight injustice,” and his client to Sancho Panza.
Yeah. Somehow, I don’t think defending the right of city council members to pillage the city treasury is the kind of windmill Don Quixote would charge at.
And Bello does not strike me as being a convincing Sancho Panza. But he might be able to carry off Don Quixote. Terry Gilliam, call your office, please.
At this point, the case is in the hands of the jury, and we’re just waiting on a verdict.
This entry was posted on Friday, February 22nd, 2013 at 5:48 pm and is filed under California Über Alles, Clippings, Law. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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