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Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Law - The evolution of indictments from bare bones filings to story-telling narratives

The Washington Post today has a fascinating article by Mark Leibovich headlined "Legal Literature: Plot, Character, Action!-- Abramoff Documents, Latest in the Genre." Some quotes:

But today, we are focused on the Abramoff oeuvre. The lobbyist reached a plea bargain agreement with the Department of Justice, pleading guilty to charges of conspiracy, mail fraud and tax evasion. So yesterday's contribution to the canon was not an indictment per se, but rather a "criminal information" released by the department, followed by a plea bargain that was signed by Abramoff. Either way, same basic genre.

"There's been quite an evolution of indictments as a narrative in the time I've practiced law," says Scott Turow, a lawyer and best-selling novelist. Before, Turow says, "the indictment tended to be pretty bare bones."

"It's hardly literature," Turow acknowledges, although he had yet to read the Abramoff document. But it's all relative. There was a time when a prosecutor might have issued an indictment of, say, Libby, in two pages. Just lay out what he said to the grand jury and be done with it. Instead, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald did it in 22 pages. It was a public relations device, Turow says, widely quoted in the press.

"This is not the traditional straitjacket language of lawyers," Turow says. "There is a story being told. It might not read with the passion of Tolstoy. But there are moments when it can read like Hemingway."

The Abramoff document is rich with distinctive touches and the potential for character development. Not as rich as Abramoff in the best of times, but rich nonetheless. Consider: * * *

Literary flourishes. "I love the term 'stream of things of value,' " says Tim Grieve, a senior writer for Salon who practiced law for several years. He is referring to a phrase that first appears on Page 9, Paragraph 22, of the charging document. It precedes a list of the various things Abramoff gave Representative #1 and members of his staff ("including but not limited to a lavish trip to Scotland to play golf on world-famous courses, tickets to sporting events. . . .").

Sequel option. Abramoff was nothing if not remorseful as he addressed the court yesterday. "Your honor, words will not be able to ever express how sorry I am for this, and I have profound regret and sorrow for the multitude of mistakes and harm I have caused," he said.

He also made this statement at the conclusion of his plea bargain that, Grieve points out, makes a tidy cliffhanger.

"The preceding statement is a summary, made for the purposes of providing the court with a factual basis for my guilty plea to the charges against me," Abramoff writes. "It does not include all the facts known to me concerning criminal activity in which I and others engaged."

Here is the Abramoff document, courtesy of TalkLeft.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 4, 2006 08:53 AM
Posted to General Law Related