Usually, when the prosecution in a case is caught fabricating evidence, and the judge instructs the jury to that effect, that leaves the defense a pretty good argument.
When the jury then independently finds exculpatory evidence that everyone — prosecutor, defense, and the judge — all missed, that would tend to make you think that indeed, there is a defense verdict coming.
And when a juror refuses to deliberate, that indicates a mistrial is on the way.
But sometimes, the prosecution gets a conviction anyway. Like today, in the case of United States of America v. Ted Stevens. All of those things happened in his trial, but Senator Stevens was convicted on all counts of ethics charges.
I guess Uncle Ted made for an unsympathetic witness in his own defense. A really unsympathetic witness.
Here’s something funny to think about. Stevens is up for re-election in a week. If he gets re-elected, he’ll have to either resign his seat or face expulsion from the Senate once he has to begin serving his sentence. Which means that his replacement would be nominated by the Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin.
She could say, “Oh, you all think I don’t enough experience with Federal issues, bitches, was that the problem? Check this out.” Then she could appoint herself to the vacant Senate seat. There’s no law against a Governor appointing herself to the Senate.
