Great news from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals:
ATLANTA, Ga. — The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has granted former Gov. Don Siegelman’s request to be released from prison pending the outcome of his appeal.
Siegelman is currently serving a 7-year sentence in the Oakdale Federal Correctional Complex in Louisiana following his 2006 public corruption conviction.
Acting U.S. Attorney Louis Franklin confirms the 11th Circuit granted Siegelman’s release in a fou- page order which states Siegelman had raised a “significant question” about his conviction.
Let the celebrations begin. I am delighted for Don Siegelman and his family.
But it would a mistake, a serious mistake not to note that Siegelman was whisked from his sentencing to imprisonment, something I consider unprecedented, that the Eleventh Circuit and the judge in the Middle District of Alabama have played patsy with this case for the ten months Don has been incarcerated sending it back and forth without deciding his motion for bail pending appeal, and that the timing of his release comes just as it was announced today by John Conyers that Don Siegelman likely be testifying in DC about his conviction. Put simply, the conviction reeks, and it has Karl Rove’s fingerprints all over it.
The feds should make sure they keep Don’s cell in Louisiana open, so that Karl Rove can move in as soon as possible.
For the details on the Don Siegelman case, try this diary by OPOL and this one by me.