Yeah it’s crazy – the judge is going to have to massively upend his calendar next week (plus the calendar of a bunch of other attorneys) to accommodate a mere six-day delay. Usually judges will reschedule trials months in advance for their own calendaring reasons. At least in civil court… could be different for criminal cases. Anyway, my read is that the judge really wanted to have a trial ASAP, but was concerned about prejudicing the other side by not giving them enough time to prepare.
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Obviously the minimum to avoid arguments toward an appeal. This judge has been a very interesting cat.
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I would like this very much.
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Were I a Genie, I would grant you this wish, and I would not count it against your three allotted wishes.
(Also, of course, given Granpa Tweety McRage’s latest offerings, I’m guessing that he knows something ugly will be happening shortly.)
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It would be nice to see a conviction come some time in late October.
Key to the 120,000 pages is most of them were banking records provided by Manafort’s defense team to the government. Manafort changed defense teams and instead of getting copies of all the records from the previous lawyers (because the previous lawyers would charge money) they decided to wait and get them for free from the prosecution. I don’t see how they can claim they were prejudiced.
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Sounds like he runs a tight ship. No whining and delaying will be tolerated.
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They can’t reasonably make the claim, but they could raise the issue on appeal and force a couple of years of additional litigation, during which time someone might pardon someone else after the time for his testimony had come and gone.
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Yeah, I checked my internal calendar and kind of laughed at the dinky amount the judge delayed the trial. The only way he’d have poked the defense more was if he’d delayed the trial by an hour or two.
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Why would the previous firm need to retain copies if they are no longer working for manafort? I can see why you might want to to CYA, but that shouldn’t justify charging someone for making copies for your records prior to handing over the originals.
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Because they’re a big law firm and they could? (I think it’s weird too, but big law firms don’t stay obscenely profitable by doing anyone unrequited favors.)
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Congratulations! We got married right before Christmas (Trimester Break - we were students) so rarely do anything that could be described as “elegant,” although for our 20th we went to Hawaii. That was fun.
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THX! 37th anniversary, feels unreal–hard to find unique things to do,ha ha. Going to World Kuo Shu martial arts tournament. Winery dinner with wine, pizza, and music.
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It might be the only money they get out of him after the original retainer. Law Firms are businesses. They have to generate a profit.
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Well yes, holding back the final work product until your final invoice is paid is a good way to ensure you are paid, although it tends to guarantee that you won’t get any repeat work.
What I was wondering is if this little nugget about not having the docs hinted at any greater turmoil beneath the surface. Sounds like maybe. Or maybe (corporate) lawyers gonna asshole.
Either way it looks like manafort is too cheap or too broke to properly prepare for trial.
Interesting isn’t it that Downing thinks it’s reasonable to file all sorts of long shot motions but not reasonable to spend money to get copies of his own clients records in time to , you know, actually read them?
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Criminal cases get priority, which is why, as you say, any change in trial date of a civil case is always months. (You’re set for trial Monday! No you’re not, because the criminal case the court expected to plead out didn’t!)
You have to assume this judge had this case calendared for the next three weeks or so. So, If Manafort doesn’t plea out, and given this is the EDV rocket docket, Judge Ellis may just crack the whip and make them try the case in the time already scheduled, regardless of the delay. Be careful what you ask for.
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Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
Courts are expected to hold criminal trials quickly. They are rated by how fast they move their criminal docket. Civil Trials suffer as a consequence. The docket Manafort is on is called a rocket docket for a reason.
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Congratulations! Have fun doing things that forgot about long ago.
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Enough time for the invisible cloud being to create the earth.
On the bright side if Manafort is convicted he will have more then a single day to rest.
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promises, promises