Houston's Clear Thinkers

Wow. Way to go Edmonton.

Great song, no doubt. As a hockey fan, I've come to really appreciate it.

But notice something else? Canadian teams always have some older, classy, traditional gentleman singing their national anthem, not some pop twinkie or R&B wanna-be who tries to "personalize" it -- as so often happens in the States.

When I read this earlier, I was unaware that San Jose Sharks fans had booed loudly throughout the singing of O Canada on Sunday in San Jose. Reading an account of the Edmonton fans, I found that in addition to the spine-tingling rendition of O Canada, the Edmonton fans cheered so loudly for the AMERICAN anthem that the singer could barely be heard. Class.

So, San Jose, how does that egg on your face taste today?

Sean Berkowitz, the lead prosecutor in the Enron case, said Thursday that "The eyes of the world have been upon this Houston courthouse for the last six months. What they have seen is our justice system at work." Well yes, Mr Berkowitz, they have been, and some of us who practice law in other parts of the common law world, like Australia (I am a criminal lawyer in Australia) have not liked what we have seen.

In Australia, and in the UK for that matter, both countries that use the same common law justice system principles as the US, some of the key tactics used by the Enron Taskforce would not have been allowed. In particular, I refer to the practice, used extensively in the case against Mr Lay and Mr Skilling, of cutting deals with key witnesses such as former Enron officers, Andy Fastow and Rick Causey, in which they agreed to give evidence against the defendants in exchange for reduced sentences.

This process, plea bargaining, is offensive because it inevitably taints the evidence given by those who accept the bargain offered by the prosecution. Plea bargaining nearly always leads to witnesses deliberately coloring their evidence to suit the prosecution case. Not only because the prosecution wouldn’t strike a deal with a witness if they didn’t know what they were going to say in evidence, but because the witness themselves is essentially acting under duress. He or she knows that if their evidence doesn’t materially assist the prosecution then the deal they have struck will come undone and they will face the full wrath of the prosecution themselves.

The US justice system can be a fine exemplar of fairness but in the way the Enron Taskforce went about their prosecution of Mr Lay and Mr Skilling, this wasn’t one of those occasions.

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