Prosecutors Case Falling Apart in Black Trial – Intrade Conrad Black Betting, Still No Volume

If there were any volume on the Sell side of Intrade’s BLACK.GUILTY.ALL contracts I would recommend shorting it to the ground. Presently there is no Intrade volume so I’ve been selling the Conrad Black BLACK.GUILTY.ALL contracts at ftpredict.com

So far in this trial we’ve learned:
1. The foundation of the prosecutions case, the non-competes, were approved by the board. Forget reasonable doubt, the state hasn't been able to show that any crime was commited.

2. The prosecutions star witness Creasey is a complete buffoon – and their other star witness is an admitted felon. Read the comical description of the clowns the State is putting on the stand. It ends, “It wasn’t that he made himself look like an idiot, but that he made any prosecutors who’d depend on such a witness look like idiots.”

3. There was nothing wrong with Black’s flights since they “…followed Hollinger's long-established policy for using the jet.”

They appeared costly because of the accounting that was used, the Chicago Tribune explains:

Creasey charged Black and Hollinger for the Bora Bora flight according to its operating cost, per flight hour, for the entire year of 2001. Using his methodology, if the plane had cost $5 million to operate in 2001 and had only been used for one hour, the cost of that one flight would have been $5 million, Greenspan noted.

4. “Hell hath no fury like a bureaucrat scorned.” – NBAT

CBC ran an ominous article on Thursday suggesting that Conrad Black should be more humble or else the State might get REALLY mad. Having unaccountable bureaucrats with vendettas determine what is legal based on how pliable the defendant is cannot be healthy for the justice system. Just like the Enron prosecutors, the prosecutors here are likely hoping to use Black’s scalp to get a real job in the private sector when this thing is over.

“Most people joined the staff of the government offices because the salary and the pension offered were higher than what they could expect to earn in other occupations. They did not renounce anything in serving the government. Civil service was for them the most profitable job they could find.” - Mises