Richard Convertino, friend of AMSL and former AMSL trial advocacy professor, began his criminal trial this week before United States District Judge Arthur Tarnow, in Detroit. The jury was impaneled on Wednesday, October 10, and the Government has begun its case-in-chief against Convertino. This has to be an extremely difficult time for himself and his family, so please say a prayer for them, that they may have strength and that God's Will may be done. Convertino is being prosecuted for lying to a jury and obstruction of justice, after a high-profile post-9/11 terrorism trial, on which Convertino was lead counsel, fell apart in a debacle. Convertino believes that the Department of Justice is unjustly making Convertino the scapegoat.

The Detroit News has some good coverage with this article setting out the background of the case. An interesting wrinkle in the case (and good news for Convertino) is that the Government's first witness admitted that he lied under oath at a pretrial hearing. I'll be keeping an eye on the case and seeing how it progresses in the weeks ahead.

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