Week 3: Winners and Losers
Winners:
- GASP: Three weeks in a row! The small, tiny public charity has shaken the pillars of industry. Testimony again showed GASP was targeted by a web of Balch agents.
- The FBI: The agent who testified solidly connected with the jury, many who are women. Not bad in this “me too” era.
- Junior Attorneys at Balch & Bingham: The testimony by three former and current Balch attorneys was damning, and also confirms there are still good, honest, and professional attorneys at Balch that have a conscience.
Losers:
- Joel Gilbert: Another problematic week showing him as the alleged head honcho of the scheme, although McKinney was mentioned as the conduit to Matrix, a consulting firm that dispersed letters in North Birmingham.
- AEMC and ADEM: They sold their responsibility and servitude to the public to benefit Balch’s alleged bribery scheme. Their respective leaders, Brown and LeFleur, melted on the stand.
- Ex-Governor Bentley: When he wasn’t making lustful phone calls in the night, he was signing Balch’s ghost-written letters.
- Ex-AG Luther Strange: The ultimate stooge for Balch also signed a ghost-written letter and left the Balch tracking code on it.
- Defense Attorneys: All three fussed about the FBI agent’s summary of bills broken down in a rainbow of colors. They looked petty and acted as if they wanted to simply complicate or confuse things for the jurors.
