-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- From: http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/scotus_hubbell_000222.html High Court Hears Hubbell Case Justices to Rule on Whitewater Figure’s 5th Amendment Rights ABCNEWS Feb. 22 — It’s been awhile, but the years-long Whitewater probe saw another legal development today in a case that could clarify the protective reach of some grants of immunity. Prosecutors asked the Supreme Court this morning to maintain former Justice Department official Webster Hubbell’s guilty plea to a misdemeanor tax charge even though they used documents against him that he was forced to produce under a limited grant of immunity in the course of the Whitewater investigation. But Hubbell’s lawyers said the grant of immunity invalidates the documents as evidence. John W. Nields Jr. told the justices that his client was indicted “at least in part because of the fact that under immunity he told the truth” by turning the documents over. “That is a terrible kind of immunity,” Nields said. The case was argued before the court today, and a ruling is expected by July. Hubbell’s lawyers cite the 5th Amendment of the Constitution, which protects people from being forced to testify against themselves. The immunity law was designed to let prosecutors get documents to use against someone else, not against the person granted immunity, Hubbell’s lawyers argue. But independent counsel Robert W. Ray, who replaced Kenneth Starr as Whitewater prosecutor last October, said in court papers that the 5th Amendment does not protect the immunized from having to turn over documents. Attorney Ronald J. Mann, representing the Whitewater independent counsel’s office, made that same argument before the court today. Some justices expressed doubts, including Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who said, “It was only by virtue of the production of the documents that you learned the facts that enabled you to carry out the prosecution.” Different From a Lineup? However, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist said, “Virtually everyone has tax records and accounting records. It is no confession to say those records exist.” Several justices questioned how turning over documents differs from being forced to provide blood or handwriting samples or stand in a police lineup — all of which can be required. A lower court largely disagreed with the prosecutors’ argument and set a standard that even the court said would have made the case against Hubbell extremely difficult to prove. Hubbell was the former No. 3-ranked Justice Department official early in President Clinton’s first term and has been a friend of the president and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton since they lived in Arkansas. Hubbell found himself in the thick of the Whitewater investigation and plead guilty to the tax charge last June — but on the condition that his plea would be dismissed if the Supreme Court upheld the lower court ruling. Therefore, Hubbell’s plea will remain in place only if the justices rule for the prosecutors. The misdemeanor tax charge alleged that Hubbell evaded paying taxes on some of the hundreds of thousands of dollars in income he received from friends of the Clintons in 1994 when he was being investigated by Starr’s office. The tax charge, filed in April 1998, was based partly on Hubbell’s financial records that he turned over to Starr’s office on the basis of limited immunity. A federal judge agreed with Hubbell that using the papers to prosecute him would violate his right against self-incrimination and dismissed the charge. Hubbell’s History of Legal Woes The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia reversed the judge’s decision but ruled that prosecutors could use the financial records only by showing they previously had “reasonably particular knowledge” that they existed. Prosecutors contend they should be allowed to use the documents’ contents as long as they did not seek to show they came from Hubbell. Hubbell has a history of legal woes stemming from the Whitewater probe. Hubbell pled guilty to a felony charge involving legal work for a savings and loan at the center of the Whitewater investigation, which involved the real estate dealings of then-Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton and his wife during the 1980s. Hubbell was sentenced last June to a year of probation. Hubbell previously served 16 months in prison for swindling his former Arkansas law firm and its clients, a charge that stemmed from an earlier investigation by Starr. The case is U.S. vs. Hubbell, 99-166. <Picture> The Associated Press contributed to this report. ================================================================= Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT FROM THE DESK OF: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> *Mike Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ~~~~~~~~ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day. ================================================================= <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soap-boxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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