The Daily Background

Two new jury notes have emerged from the Libby trial today, one of which is from the jury to the judge asking a question yesterday afternoon, the second of which is from the jury to the judge this morning saying they had answered their own question.

Apparently, according to people more familiar with the case than I am, say that the question was relating to the charge against Libby lying about what he had said to Matt Cooper, which is regarded by some to be the weakest charge overall in the 5-count indictment. The notes (printed below) are a bit cryptic, and apparently the judge didn’t understand what the jury was asking himself. Supposedly Team Libby was having a good time laughing at the jury Foreperson’s writing or confusion, and everyone seems to be in a good mood at the courtroom today.

Thanks to Jane for the transcripts, cause they’re a little tricky to read.

TEXT:

We would like clarification on the charge as stated under Count 3 specifically:

Page 74 of the jury instructions, “Count three of the indictment alleges that Mr. Libby falsely told the FBI on October 14 or November 26, 2003, that during a conversation with M. Cooper of Time Magazine on July 12, 2003, Mr. Libby told Mr. Cooper that reporters were telling the administration that Mr. Wilson’s wife worked for the CIA but that Mr. Libby did not know of this was true.

(i.e., is the charge that the statement was made or about the content of the statement itself)

The judge scrawled the following on the bottom of the Jury Notes form:

TEXT:

I am not exactly certain what you are asking me. Can you please clarify your question?

This morning at 10:45 AM, the jury said they had answered their own question, and sent this note to Judge Walton:

TEXT:

After further discussion, we are clear on what we had to do. No further clarification needed. Thank you. We Apologize.

Filed under: Plame Leak, Z-TDB Blog