From: Leland Jory (ljory@mts.net)
Date: Tue Mar 09 2004 - 02:23:51 GMT
On Mar 8, 2004, at 6:21 PM, Valence wrote:
> Hi Leland, Martha was not found guilty of "fraud and
> profiteering". She
> was convicted of obstructing justice; in particular, lying to federal
> investigators. The fraud charge against her was thrown out.
I stand corrected.
> This is
> another example of instances in which the cover-up does more damage
> than the
> crime. If she had taken the deal previously offered to her and
> admitted to
> insider trading, she would have paid a fine and served no time at all.
> But
> instead, she got cocky, lied to investigators and forged documents to
> try
> and prove her 'innocence'.
I find this to be a common behavior among the very rich when they are
found with their hand in the cookie jar.
> As for the comparison to the OJ verdict, the OJ prosecutors put on
> a
> terrible case and made novice mistakes at pretty much every turn (I'd
> suggest reading Vincent Bugliosi's book on the trial in which he
> convincingly argues that any 1st year law student should have been
> able to
> convict OJ and that he was acquitted not because of a biased jury but
> because of severe prosecutorial incompetence); the Martha prosecutors
> (from
> what I know of the case), by contrast, put on a much tighter case (at
> least
> with respect to the obstruction charges).
Too true. If only the OJ prosecution team had put half as much effort
into their case as the Martha prosecutors.
> Platt, my friend, your characterization of the Stewart Jury as
> "envious
> jurists" who conspired " to bring down in individual whose life was
> dedicated to quality" strikes me as preposterous. Martha was a thief
> who
> illegally received and acted on insider information to enrich herself
> and
> then lied about it at every turn. She lied under oath, forged
> documents,
> and even got others to lie and forge on her behalf.
But somehow this is ok. <sigh>
> The jury was dead-on.
> She stole $40,000 at the expense of legitimate investors as surely as
> if she
> robbed a bank with a gun and then she tried to lie and cheat her way
> out of
> it.
Ironic, isn't it. A woman worth literally tens of millions of dollars
(at least) going to jail over a measly $40-50,000. She should give her
head a shake.
> Regardless of the alleged quality of her products or efforts on behalf
> of "average shlubs", her refusal to plea to the crime she actually
> committed
> and decision to lie and cover-up endangered the corporation she built
> and
> the hundreds, if not thousands, of hard-working "average shlubs" who
> depend
> on it for their livelihoods. I can just hear them saying, "Sure I
> can't
> feed my family anymore, but the quality of throw pillows at K-Mart is
> just
> so much better than it used to be. Thank God for Martha!!!"
Couldn't have said it better. Bravo!
--
Leland Jory :^{)>
Cafeteria Spiritualist and Philosopher
"It is a puzzling thing. The truth knocks on the door and you say, 'Go
away, I'm looking for the truth.' and so it goes away. Puzzling." -
Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
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