The Conrad Black Trial

Hollinger trial to start at the top
Black's replacement to lead off on stand

By Rudolph Bush
Tribune staff reporter
Published March 13, 2007

The man who replaced media mogul Conrad Black at the helm of Hollinger International Inc. will be the first to testify against Black when Black's corporate fraud trial gets under way.

Gordon Paris, who in 2003 headed up a group of independent directors investigating Black and top deputies, will take the stand for about two hours of direct testimony, prosecutors announced Monday.

Paris, who could be on the stand as early as March 20, is currently a board member of the Sun-Times Media Group Inc., as Hollinger was renamed after Black's ouster as chairman and chief executive.

Paris is expected to testify about his investigation into Black's business practices as head of Hollinger.

The investigation began with a request from Hollinger investors and resulted in a blistering report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission that accused Black and top deputies of lining their pockets with more than $90 million.

Based in large part on the report, prosecutors investigated and charged Black and four other Hollinger executives with fleecing what was then one of the world's largest newspaper companies.

One of those executives, former Chicago Sun-Times Publisher David Radler, has pleaded guilty and is expected to be a star witness for the prosecution.

If found guilty on all counts, the 62-year-old Black could face 15 years in prison and the forfeiture of an additional $53 million.

The trial is expected to draw hundreds of reporters and photographers from the U.S., Canada, England and Australia to U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve's courtroom at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse.

i think most canadians could care less

as long as he's found guilty and locked up in an amrican prison for the rest of his natural days

Conrad Black's lawyer gets on wrong side of judge

Andrew Clark in Chicago
Thursday March 15, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

It was an embarrassing start to Conrad Black's trial for the media magnate's Canadian defence attorney, Edward Greenspan, who learned the hard way from the judge that he needs to watch his tongue when giving media interviews.

Mr Greenspan, who is among Canada's most famous lawyers, was hauled over the coals for making tongue-in-cheek remarks about his treatment as a foreigner in America's legal system.


In front of a packed courtroom on the first day of the case, judge Amy St Eve berated Mr Greenspan for making "patently wrong" comments about a special waiver giving him the right to practice in Chicago's federal court.

Canada eagerly awaits outcome of Lord Black trial
By Hugh Winsor in Ottawa
Published: 15 March 2007
Just about everything about Conrad Black is larger than life, including his trial that began yesterday in Chicago and the saturation media coverage that has dominated Canadian media as anticipation builds that the man who has belittled his former Canadian countrymen for so long will finally get his come uppance.

In an Angus Reid poll on the weekend, 59 per cent of the respondents said they would not feel sorry about a Black conviction.

Although Lord Black of Crossharbour is frequently referred to as a Canadian tycoon and press baron, he is no longer either a Canadian or a newspaper owner. Former Prime Minister Jean Chretien forced him to renounce his Canadian citizenship in 2001 to accept his British peerage and his media holding company, Hollinger International is now an empty shell.

That has in no way diminished the Canadian interest in his trial in Chicago for 14 charges of fraud, money laundering, obstruction of justice and racketeering. Many of the accusations relate to some $84-million he and three colleagues extracted from purchasers of his various titles for non-compete clauses.

Both the media and political commentators are taking great glee in the fact Lord Black is trying to get his Canadian citizenship back. That is because Canada has an exchange treaty with the United States that would allow him to serve his prison term in Canada if he is convicted. Much has also been made of the fact his lead defense counsel, Eddie Greenspan, is trying to prevent any references to Mr. Black as "Lord", assuming that would not go down well with Chicago jurors.

In spite of his status as an indicted felon awaiting trial, Lord Black and his glamorous wife Barbara Amiel continue to cut a swath through Canadian society showing up for balls and charities as well as the widely-publicized launch of his biography of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Nor has he been shy about the ever present microphones, quick to denounce the "poltroons" and "witless placemen" who have conspired, he argues, to destroy him. In equally colourful language, he predicts a complete vindication and promises revenge against this detractors.