Siegelman Appellate Brief Filed, OPR Confirms Investigation Of Selective Prosecution

Attorneys for former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman on Thursday asked the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit to reverse his conviction and acquit him.  Siegelman was ordered released on bond in March (earlier here and here).  Siegelman was convicted of bribery and related charges for appointing former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy to the Alabama hospital Certificate Of Need board, allegedly in exchange for Scrushy arranging $500,000 in donations to Siegelman’s campaign to institute a state lottery. The appeal rests heavily on the argument that the trial court fundamentally erred by failing to recognize that proof of a criminal violation requires an explicit quid pro quo linkage between a campaign contribution and official action (AP).

Meanwhile, as the House Judiciary Committee investigates allegations that the prosecution of Siegelman was politically motivated, on Thursday US Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) released a May 5 letter from the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) of the DOJ confirming that the OPR is currently investigating allegations of selective prosecution of Siegelman as well as the cases of former Allegheny County Coroner Cyril Wecht, former Mississippi Supreme Court Judge Oliver Diaz and attorney Paul Minor, and former Wisconsin state employee Georgia Thompson (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Bloomberg).