The Assistant U.S. Attorney laid out a strong closing argument against co-defendants, Joel I. Gilbert and David Roberson. AL.com reports: Assistant U.S. Attorney Robin Beardsley Mark made the government’s closing statement. She began her statement talking about growing up as a daughter of a costume seamstress, watching the theater come to life on opening night and the actor shine. That’s what Robinson was in this scheme, she said. “He was exactly the right person with exactly the right connections to deliver a message to the community,” Mark said. “His words and his presence would not go unnoticed.” Mark asked the…

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…

Week 3 ends;  the prosecution rested a little bit before 4:00 p.m. The case resumes on Monday. As we posted earlier, the morning session was dominated by the lead FBI agent who connected with the jury. The afternoon session heard testimony from Irving W. Jones, Jr., a former attorney at Balch & Bingham, who worked closely with Joel Gilbert (click here to learn more about Jones). John Archibald of AL.com tweeted: Jones, on instructions for Def. Gilbert, apparently drafted the initial letter that purported to be from Oliver Robinson, asking that Robinson be allowed to comment before the Alabama Emergency Management…

Although we will have our daily update later today, the CDLU was at the court hearing this morning listening to testimony from the FBI agent who connected with the jury. A female agent who looks to be in her forties, wearing reading glasses, she appeared to be cut from the same cloth as the women on the jury: middle-aged, motherly, and Alabamian. Defense attorneys have been objecting since yesterday about her presentations of excerpts of Balch & Bingham billing records. Her presentations are fabulous. Broken down in a rainbow of colors, she shows when billings were referring to specific government…

Although there was lots of excitement and drama today over a possible mistrial, the real bomb that dropped today was that of Chad Pilcher,  a Balch & Bingham government affairs attorney who testified that he warned Joel Gilbert about using State Representative Oliver Robinson’s position or letterhead. Pilcher regularly consults with the Alabama Ethics Commission, he testified. John Archibald of AL.com tweets: Pilcher said he warned Gilbert that Robinson could not use his official position or letterhead to help. Gilbert, documents show, edited Robinson’s position into letters sent In Robinson’s name. Pilcher is the first Balch lawyer on the stand…

While reading redacted grand jury testimony given by Joel Gilbert into the record today,  prosecutors screwed up by reading the name of co-defendant David Roberson. Defense lawyers for Roberson immediately called for a mistrial. Prosecutors argued that the transcript of the grand jury testimony had been redacted by another judge and that defense lawyers had had the document in their possession for 2 weeks and were “lying in wait” for the mistake to happen, according to tweets by AL.com reporters. Roberson’s defense attorney struck back by saying prosecutors had the burden to fix the mistake. Ivana  Hrynkiw of AL.com tweeted:…