Time: Fri Sep 12 16:12:18 1997
by usr05.primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id LAA01340;
Fri, 12 Sep 1997 11:22:35 -0700 (MST)
Date: Fri, 12 Sep 1997 11:22:25 -0700
To: (Recipient list suppressed)
From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar]
Subject: SLS: Arizona: The inside scoop on the Symington Trial (fwd)
<snip>
>
>The Daily Wildcat
>University of Arizona
>September 9th, 1997
>
>The Symington Trial: Beyond the Superficial Glance
>by Rachel Alexander
>
>Now that the trial of Governor Symington has reached its inevitable
>conclusion, the city newspapers solicit and publish the opinion of
>selected residents regardless of their knowledge of the facts behind the
>trial. "I haven't been following the case, but I'm sure he got what he
>deserved" is a typical quote. It appears that everyone in society is
>entitled to voice their opinion on a topic, no matter how uninformed
>they are on the subject. The question remains in the minds of critical
>thinkers, what were the facts that led to the indictments and was the
>trial and its eventual outcome reasonable?
>
>In 1995 Symington filed for bankruptcy because his real estate
>investments did not produce enough income to allow him to sustain the
>loans. Despite the fact that this was a fairly common occurrence,
>because of the real estate slump at the time, and Symington only one
>part of the failed Southwest Savings & Loan, which was responsible for
>most of his loans, S & L Regulators encouraged the FBI to investigate
>Symington individually for criminal wrong-doing. The FBI coincidentally
>dropped its probe against Southwest Savings & Loan later (regarding the
>Esplanade real estate), yet Symington was found guilty by the jury on
>four counts involved here.
>
>Since there was no specific statute which Symington violated, the
>prosecution turned to broad ones, cleverly using words such as "fraud"
>and "extortion" in the hope that the media would run with the story and
>spread negative propaganda for them. I originally had a difficult time
>associating the newspaper headlines with the text of the articles
>because the substance of a given article would not support the
>accusation made by the headline.
>
>The 21 counts against Symington were repetitive accusations that he
>submitted differing valuations on his personal financial statements for
>the property he owned to his various lenders. There are no strict
>guidelines or laws regarding this reporting and the range of values of a
>given property will depend on the time and type of the appraisal.
>Additional factors to consider are the cost of improvements, the
>predicted cost of improvements, the length of time the property has been
>on the market, and whether the value specified is the estate taxation
>value, the sale of property value, or the real estate taxes condemnation
>value. These were the difficult concepts that the jurors were asked to
>grapple with, and none of the jurors came from a real estate background.
>
>The media treatment of Ms. Jane Cotey, the juror who was dismissed
>during final deliberations, clearly shows a hidden agenda. Only one
>paper out of five read by this author, the Mesa Tribune, actually
>interviewed her. This interview revealed that juror Cotey was leaning
>toward acquittal on all of the counts against Symington. The jury needed
>unanimity to find Symington guilty on even one of the charges. It is
>easy to find against the "rich Republican guy," especially when the jury
>is composed of 6 registered Democrats and only 3 registered Republicans.
>
>Amazingly, the major Arizona newspapers did not bother to interview
>Cotey herself, but instead took the word of the other jurors who said
>she was unable to grasp the complexities of the testimony. There were
>two different explanations for the juror's removal, yet little or no
>credence was attributed to Cotey. This is unfortunate, because I believe
>her dismissal, under the circumstances, is the reason why this case will
>be remanded for retrial on appeal, to the surprise of the media and
>their misinformed readers.
>
>One bit of irony that has not gone unnoticed is how diligently the U.S.
>Attorney and press have pursued Symington when, in another failed real
>estate deal involving a high government official and his wife, there
>seems to be less enthusiasm and zeal in the search for the truth. One
>does not have to look too hard to see the media bias when it comes to
>protecting the Clintons, even with ample evidence and numerous
>convictions of other key players in the Whitewater scandal. Clinton and
>his partner at the time, James McDougal (currently in federal prison),
>purchased a piece of land in Arkansas as a joint venture. Clinton
>contributed only $500 of his own money. The rest was paid for with loans
>from several banks. These loans were then repaid with loans from
>McDougal's Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan, who had as their attorneys
>the Rose Law firm of which Hillary was a partner. When Madison failed,
>U.S. taxpayers picked up the tab. 18 USC 1344 makes it a crime to obtain
>funds from a federally insured lending institution under false or
>fraudulent pretenses. Unlike Symington's sprawling Phoenix developments,
>Clinton produced nothing out of Whitewater.
>
>It is unfortunate that the media has co-opted the facts in this trial.
>>From the beginning, the media has portrayed Symington as a crook,
>declaring him guilty before the trial even started. Their 5-star effort
>has got Republicans tripping over Democrats in the rush to apologize to
>the media regarding Symington. It is sad when partisan politics, and the
>mean desire to see someone fail because they are successful, outweigh
>objectivity.
>
>http://wildcat.arizona.edu/papers/91/12/04_3_m.html
>-------
>
<snip>
========================================================================
Paul Andrew Mitchell : Counselor at Law, federal witness
B.A., Political Science, UCLA; M.S., Public Administration, U.C. Irvine
tel: (520) 320-1514: machine; fax: (520) 320-1256: 24-hour/day-night
email: [address in tool bar] : using Eudora Pro 3.0.3 on 586 CPU
website: http://www.supremelaw.com : visit the Supreme Law Library now
ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776 : this is free speech, at its best
Tucson, Arizona state : state zone, not the federal zone
Postal Zone 85719/tdc : USPS delays first class w/o this
As agents of the Most High, we came here to establish justice. We shall
not leave, until our mission is accomplished and justice reigns eternal.
========================================================================
[This text formatted on-screen in Courier 11, non-proportional spacing.]
Return to Table of Contents for
Supreme Law School: E-mail