Now that the players are getting caught and convicted they want their guilty verdicts overturned and desire to be set free. Good luck on that. You culprits are the main reason Detroit is now under the direction of an emergency financial manager appointed by the governor.
Ferguson asks judge for acquittal or new trial for Detroit City Hall corruption charges
Ferguson )
Detroit — Contractor Bobby Ferguson asked a federal judge Friday to acquit him of nine charges, including racketeering conspiracy, saying prosecutors failed to prove their case during the City Hall corruption trial.
As an alternative, Ferguson asked U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds to order a new trial because of what he and his attorneys consider several errors committed during the six-month trial, which ended in March with guilty verdicts against the contractor and ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his father, Bernard.
Prosecutors deprived Ferguson of his constitutional right to a fair trial by using "inflammatory and prejudicial remarks" during closing arguments, the contractor's lawyers wrote in a filing Friday in federal court.
During closing arguments, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Chutkow quoted Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver and urged jurors to speak for the community and convict the men of corruption.
"It is wholly improper for a prosecutor to appeal to the jurors' emotions, as happened here," Ferguson's lawyers wrote.
Ferguson's own defense featured an emotional closing argument.
Defense lawyer Gerald Evelyn capped a two-hour-long closing argument on the verge of tears and his voice cracked while quoting Martin Luther King Jr.
The requests for acquittal or a new trial likely will fail, said Peter Henning, a former federal prosecutor who is a law professor at Wayne State University.
"Defendants have to file these motions to preserve their appeal," Henning said.
Ferguson, 44, is facing up to 20 years or more in prison on racketeering and eight other charges.
In his bid for acquittal, Ferguson said the government failed to establish that he gave illicit cash to Kilpatrick and testimony from rival contractors included hearsay.
Defense lawyers also pounced on testimony from federal agents, saying they gave opinions and their own interpretations of text messages sent between Kwame Kilpatrick and Ferguson.
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From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130511/METRO01/305110336#ixzz2Sysh9oM3
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