Libby's Fate in Jury's Hands Next Week

Feb. 14, 2007— -- The Libby trial is near completion. The prosecution and defense have presented their case, soon putting the fate of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby in the hands of the jury.

The defense rested its case early Wednesday afternoon after a long series of arguments about the final pieces of evidence in the case.

The jury was finally brought in for one hour of the trial, and jurors showed their Valentine's Day spirit by all wearing identical red shirts with white hearts on their chests.

One of the jurors, who is only identified as Juror 1432, possibly the foreman, stood up when they were all seated and said to Judge Reggie Walton, "We wanted to express our appreciation to you for our comfort and our safety thanks to the marshals."

Both the prosecutors and defense lawyers seemed to put the last few weeks of arguments behind them and smiled toward the jury. Libby sat at his defense table. His smile was more visible than the thin one he occasionally shows.

Juror 1432 then took a more serious tone, turning toward the lawyers at the defense and prosecution tables to say, "This is where our unity ends. … We are committed to act independently … and base our decision on an independent basis."

Walton thanked the jurors, saying, "Thank you very much. You have been conscientious jurors."

The jury was then met with applause from the defense and prosecutors and other court staff.

After this lighthearted moment, defense attorney John Cline submitted substitution testimony for Libby and the vice president's morning intelligence briefers.

From Valentine's wishes the subject matter turned quickly to possible al Qaeda attacks in the United States, potential bomb attacks at U.S. and British embassies in Africa, Israeli-Palestinian tension, the growing insurgency in Iraq and governing problems inside Iraq -- all matters Libby once faced daily.

The defense has been trying to convince the jury that Libby was so consumed by numerous national security matters while working as Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff and national security adviser that he could not adequately remember certain facts for investigators.

Earlier Wednesday, Walton denied a request by the Libby defense to submit a statement of fact on the various national security matters Libby was handling from June 2003 to March 2004.

During numerous closed-door classified pretrial hearings, Libby's lawyers, the judge and administration officials worked out information that could be declassified to illustrate the issues Libby was dealing with in the White House.

Walton conditioned introducing such evidence on the understanding that Libby would testify at his trial, saying, "This seeks to get Mr. Libby's statement in through the back door without opening him up to cross-examination. … You can't play coy."

The defense objected, saying the decision violates Libby's Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights.

Walton shook his head, repeating, "If I get reversed on this one, maybe I have to hang up my spurs."

The list included numerous items about national security threats between June 2003 and March 2004. This is the time frame when Libby was first beginning to deal with the growing controversy over claims that the administration had twisted intelligence leading to the war in Iraq and his two grand jury appearances.

Libby is charged with obstruction of justice and perjury for allegedly lying to investigators about how he learned about the identity of Valerie Plame, a CIA officer. Her name was published in a column by Robert Novak after her husband criticized the Bush administration in a New York Times op-ed piece on July 6, 2003.

While Libby is not charged with revealing her identity, he allegedly told the FBI and a federal grand jury that he learned about Plame from Tim Russert of NBC News.

Russert was the prosecution's final and star witness at the trial, which began Jan. 23.

Before the defense rested, the attorneys read a stipulation, a statement of fact agreed to by both sides, from former FBI agent John Eckenrode, who lead the FBI's leak investigation.

The stipulation focused on a report in which Eckenrode wrote that he spoke to Tim Russert on two occasions about the leak investigation.

Russert testified on the witness stand last week that Eckenrode had contacted him to discuss statements in which Libby said he had learned about Plame from Russert. The report noted that Russert had said he had one or possibly two conversations with Libby on or around July 10, 2003, but he couldn't remember all of the details.

Bolstering the faulty memory defense, the jury was shown a section of the document that noted that Russert "Does not recall saying anything about the wife of Ambassador Wilson … Although he could not rule out the possibility he had such an exchange, Russert was at a loss to remember it."

Eckenrode retired from the FBI shortly after the indictment against Libby was returned.

After this, the defense rested its case and the prosecution presented only a brief rebuttal statement saying that Valerie Plame had worked at the CIA's counterproliferation division at CIA headquarters. Walton told the jury, "All of the evidence has now been presented in this case."

The defense rested its case after only two days of witness testimony over three days. The prosecution's case spanned 11 days.

Tuesday the defense decided that it would not call Cheney to testify and that Libby would not take the stand at his own trial.

After the jury was dismissed, defense attorney Ted Wells told Walton as they reviewed some final issues it was his call not to have Libby or the vice president testify.

"It was my recommendation. … I had the vice president on hold right up to the last minute. … he had his schedule open," Wells told the court.

"We have to make decisions on our clients best interest," Wells concluded.

Closing arguments in the case are expected to be held next Tuesday. The jury could begin deliberations by the following day.

If convicted of on all five charges in the indictment, Libby could face a maximum of 30 years in prison.