The code of ethics requires that attorneys treat judges and the judicial system with respect. Of course, the judicial code of ethics requires that the judges also treat the legal system with at least the same respect.
Judge Mark Fuller, the Bush appointee who shat throughout his trial and eventually ram-rodded the conviction of Gov. Siegelman, has been sitting on a transcript. A trial transcript. The obedient Judge Fuller has one excuse – the court reporter died. And without a court transcript, you do not have enough of a record with which to appeal a conviction. Catch-22 meet the Rovian Bush Administration.
With today’s modern technology, the death of a court reporter makes no difference. The computer readout of the court reporter’s machine is easily downloaded to any PC and the spell-checking and name correction can be done in a day. Perhaps two. Not months. Not many months.
Having dated a sweet, smart and really cute former federal court court reporter, trust me. They have NO LACK of technology, software, or ability to create a transcript at will. Ah, that is what is missing – “the will”.
Fuller, a politically connected hack before Bush’s appointment, has had other serious ethical conflicts. The man makes more with US military & justice Dept. spending than he does as a judge.
. . . a post-trial motion, filed in April 2007, asking Fuller to recuse himself based on his extensive private business interests, which turn very heavily on contracts with the United States Government, including the Department of Justice.
The motion to recuse rested upon details about Fuller’s personal business interests. On February 22, 2007, defense attorneys obtained information that Judge Fuller held a controlling 43.75% interest in government contractor Doss Aviation, Inc. After investigating these claims for over a month, the attorneys filed a motion for Fuller’s recusal on April 18, 2007. The motion stated that Fuller’s total stake in Doss Aviation was worth between $1-5 million, and that Fuller’s income from his stock for 2004 was between $100,001 and $1 million dollars.
In other words, Judge Fuller likely made more from his business income, derived from U.S. Government contracts, than as a judge.
The above from a Harpers column last year. https://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/08/hbc-90000762
Last Sunday, 60 Minutes broadcast its story on the travesty that is the Siegelman conviction. Just before and since, Karl Rove’s personal fingerprints have been found to be on the whole mess. To put it bluntly, the top GOP leadership did everything and anything they could to
stop a man who was popular enough to be elected (and possibly be a Rovian victim of election fraud) and suffer the consequences.
People like Judge Mark Fuller represent everything that is wrong with the US legal system. Funny, he is too twisted and obedient to recognize the damage he does.
To paraphrase Sir Douglas Adams, tongue in cheek, Mark Fuller and his criminal cabal will be the first against the wall when the revolution comes.
The only pity is that we prefer that the wall be the wall of justice, consisting of honest judges, a fair application of the bill of rights, the criminal code rules and statutes, and the demanding fairness and justice for all.
Mark Fuller may not recognize those parts of his job description, but when we seek his indictment and eventual conviction, he will see that we still rely on them.
Judge Mark Fuller, a candidate for Keith O’s worst person in the world.
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