Worried that alleged scumbag attorney Noel Gage is destined to go free? Fear not reader, a great article in Las Vegas City Life reports that there's still a good chance the jury will convict based on the remaining charges:. . . but while the number of counts is now lower, the serious charges are essentially intact.
Nearly all of the criminal acts mentioned in the dropped counts are included in a massive conspiracy count that is the heart of the government's case. Maybe the jury will decide Gage is innocent, but they certainly have not reached such a decision yet, nor has the court essentially tossed out the testimony of the key witnesses, as has been suggested elsewhere. The jury will make that decision too, not journalists.
Two other points need to be mentioned. After the jury reaches a verdict in this trial, it will go right back to work on a second trial of Gage on charges of obstruction. That's right. The judge separated that count out from the others, and the very same jury will be asked to hear new evidence and new testimony on those other allegations.
A lot of people are wondering whether an acquittal for Gage will mean the other targets of a four-year FBI probe will be off the hook, speculating that federal prosecutors will simply punt. Don't count on it. The way I hear it, the Gage verdict will not affect pending indictments whatsoever. They're coming.
Nice to see this trial can't be so quicky swept under the rug as the Review-Journal would have us believe.
[Thanks to Nancy for the tip]
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