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Thursday, June 12, 2008
Ind. Courts - Still more on: Robert Cantrell found guilty on all charges
"Legal 'oversight' not likely to modify Cantrell's conviction" is the headline to today's story by Andy Grimm in the Gary Post Tribune, updating this ILB entry from June 10th. Some quotes:
HAMMOND -- Robert Cantrell's last-ditch effort to block his fraud conviction likely won't go far, experts say.On the final day of his fraud trial last week -- and after federal prosecutors had closed their case -- Cantrell's lawyer pointed out that prosecutors never asked any of their witnesses to point out Cantrell in the courtroom.
The oversight, defense attorney Kevin Milner argued, was grounds for Judge Rudy Lozano to enter a verdict of not guilty to the 11 counts of mail fraud without sending the case to the jury.
Lozano let jurors reach their verdict -- ultimately, guilty on all counts-- but the judge will not formally enter the judgment until after he has reviewed filings on Milner's motion by the U.S. Attorney and by Cantrell later this month. Milner did not return calls from the Post-Tribune. U.S. Attorney David Capp declined comment.
Despite the apparent oversight, Valparaiso University Law School professor David Vandercoy says the verdict likely will stand.
"I don't think I've ever heard of anybody ever getting off because of failure to properly identify a defendant," the criminal law professor said. * * *
Leonard Cavise, a law professor at DePaul University in Chicago, called it "Trial Practice 101" that attorneys "always have the defendant identified in the courtroom."
While prosecutors Orest Szewciw and Wayne Ault are "kicking themselves" about the oversight, Cavise said, the error likely won't turn the case -- either in Lozano's eyes or on appeal.
"If it was a mistaken identity case, where the defense is asking, 'Is this the man that robbed you?, then (the lack of identification) is fatal for the government," Cavise said. "I don't see that as an issue here."
"It happens all the time that people get off on failures to do things (that are procedural), and it's definitely a mistake," Cavise added. "Is it a material mistake? I don't think so. It looks like somebody had a little slip of the mind, a little brain freeze."
Though they may not have physically pointed a finger at Cantrell in the court, numerous witnesses -- including Cantrell's son, John, and his business partner, Nancy Fromm -- spoke of their long relationships with Cantrell and his reputation as one of Lake County's most well-known political players.
Still, the thought of the 66-year-old Cantrell escaping prison time on a technicality makes some supporters wistful.
"You think he's a legend now," said Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. in an interview earlier this week. "Imagine if he manages to get off on that."
Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 12, 2008 08:39 AM
Posted to Ind Fed D.Ct. Decisions