CHICAGO (CP) - When Conrad Black sits before the jury that will decide his fate on fraud charges, observers say his lawyers likely want him facing artists, writers and others who "see nuance," rather than blue-collar workers with a firm faith in the of chain of command.
Pretrial questionnaires and motions have already begun to weed out prospective jurors in Black's trial on charges of defrauding investors of millions, but selection gets under way officially in Chicago on Wednesday.
Black, who once headed the world's third-largest newspaper empire and numbered the Canadian and British elite among his friends, is charged with mail and wire fraud, money laundering, obstruction of justice, racketeering and tax violations.
If convicted, he faces up to 101 years in prison.
The charges revolve around the sale of hundreds of community papers starting in 1998. Prosecutors allege Black and his co-executives pocketed payments from the buyers in return for promises not to compete with them, proceeds of which should have gone to shareholders of Hollinger Inc.
(TSX:HLG.C), the Toronto holding company at the centre of Conrad Black's collapsed newspaper empire.
Also charged are former Hollinger executives Jack Boultbee, Peter Atkinson and Mark Kipnis, who face mail or wire fraud charges.
All four have pleaded not guilty.
Experts say if Black and his lawyers have their way, a jury of his peers will include people who "understand that there's context to problems, that things occur within a larger scene, that things are not just the moment of time, but rather there's a whole series of things that go on that make something happen," said Samuel Solomon, CEO of DOAR Litigation Consulting in New York.
"They want people who see nuances, shades of grey," such as artist and writers, he said.
Prosecutors, on the other hand, will be looking for "law-and-order, follow-the-rules type of jurors who also believe in chain of command and that the buck stops at the top."
Those could include people who have worked in the military, or as police officers or teachers: individuals who see things in black and white and believe that "if you've done it wrong - boom-it's over," Solomon said.
Jacob Frenkel, a former Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement lawyer and former U.
S. federal prosecutor, said prosecutors will also be looking for jurors who can understand the importance of integrity in corporate boardrooms, while the defence "wants people who may not look as favourably on law enforcement, maybe do not have experience in the markets."
Still, Solomon said, the jurors will need to be intelligent enough to "decide that even though Conrad Black was the captain of the ship, it was people under him that were actually making these types of decisions and not him.
"
The process began a week ago, when lawyers for both sides appeared before Judge Amy St. Eve to begin paring down a list of more than 100 prospective jurors based on pretrial questionnaires to asses possible prejudice.
All sides were expected to meet again for a private conference on the questionnaires on Monday, with the remaining jurors returning to court March 14 for final selection.
Those who return will be questioned by St. Eve, although each party can submit questions to her and has a right to veto between four and six jurors.
"The biggest concern the judge will typically have is just the most obvious forms of prejudice," Solomon said, adding she would also consider excluding any relatives of the defendants or those to whom jury duty would be too personally disruptive.
"One of the drivers of a case like this is people's perspectives about corporations, corporate executives and whether or not there's a general assumption of the corruptive level of these corporations."
Since lawyers don't control the questioning of the jurors, observers agree neither side is ever left with the jury it wants - but since jury trials are so unpredictable, that may not be a big handicap.
But a jury's view of Black will ultimately hinge on his testimony, should he take the stand.
His lawyer, Edward Greenspan, said he has not yet made a decision as to whether Black will testify, and generally does not decide whether it's necessary to put a client on the stand until the prosecution has finished arguing its case.
As for what kind of jury he would like to see in Chicago, Greenspan said he would simply like it to be "fair."
"We're just looking for fair-minded jurors and we think that we'll be able to get it," he said.
"We're walking into this trial with total belief and faith in the fact that we will be having a fair trial."
Black is unlikely to encounter prejudice in Chicago, Solomon said.
"The Midwest is, in general, a very fair, open-minded type of venue.
All things being equal, he's in a good place to have a trial because Midwesterners are not going to be swayed emotionally as much...
they are a level-headed bunch of people."
Jury selection is expected to last until Friday with opening arguments beginning March 19.
Patrick Fitzgerald, the U.
S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois who has hand-picked Black's prosecution team, recently secured a guilty verdict in the trial of former senior White House insider Lewis (Scooter) Libby on charges of perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements.
C., mayor's office hosted about 100 homeless people on Thursday at a screening of The Pursuit of Happyness, about a homeless man who becomes a millionaire.
with a $1 billion US lawsuit alleging massive copyright infringment.
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