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Friday, January 13, 2006

Freebery Found 83.3% Guilty

After deliberating 8.5 hours over 2 days on the mortgage fraud case against former New Castle County official Sherry L. Freebery, the jury deadlocked with 10 jurors voting for Freebery’s guilt and 2 for her acquittal. The ancient U.S. District Judge John P. Fullam declared a mistrial. Fullam, the senior District Judge in the Eastern Pennsylvania US District Court, is widely believed to be the oldest person alive. He was appointed to the District Court by President Andrew Johnson in 1866.

Throughout the pre-trial hearings and the trail itself, Judge Fullam has shown a distinct 83.3% partiality for Ms. Freebery. That partiality was particularly evident in the Judges instructions to the jury:

Fullam told [the jury] that if they thought Freebery believed she had no obligation to repay Moseley, the government had failed to prove the fraudulent intent necessary for a guilty verdict.

Some court observers expressed surprise at Fullam's instruction; one said it left no legal grounds for a conviction. (link)

Apparently, fraud is a state of mind.

Judge Fullam is the darling of the News Journal editorialist Ron Williams. Williams, who has only managed to be objective about the infamous Gordonbery administration 16.7% of the time, has found Fullam so inspiring that he has actually managed to get out of the office and attend the trial:

But the 80-something-year-old judge is clearly in charge. He's already charmed the jury with wit and graciousness, congratulating them on their selection and wishing those not chosen better luck next time. (link)

(Yes, Ron, it requires a considerable amount of talent to congratulate people and give others a friendly goodbye.) But Williams failed to mention that Judge Fullam had forgotten to wear his pants that morning to the courtroom.

Freebery seemed unfazed that 83.3% of the jury thought her guilty as charged:

“I am not at all discouraged,” Freebery said. Presumed
“[i]nnocent going in” and 16.7% “innocent going out. I feel great.” (link)

As improbable as Freebery’s optimism really was, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ferris Wharton had an 83.3% justification for feeling happy:

"I think we can speak for everybody in the U.S. Attorney's Office; we don't feel embarrassed," responded Assistant U.S. Attorney Ferris Wharton, who tried the case along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Leonard Stark.

"Certainly, if it was two to 10, we would not be quite as encouraged about moving forward," Wharton added, referring to the split among the jurors. (link)

Unless Judge Fullam dismisses the charges (there’s only a 16.7% chance he’ll remember where he placed them), there is an 83.3% certainty the News Journal’s Ron Williams will dismiss or ignore the significance of 10 of the 12 jurors finding Freebery guilty.

Posted by Delaware Watch at Friday, January 13, 2006