If the jurors had taken good notes, they might look something like the retrospective chart found at this link.
Philip Jordan, the Cherokee County probate judge who Lanny Young pleaded guilty to extorting, will be taking the stand tomorrow, so the jury and us may learn a little more about the Cherokee County landfill rulings. However, as the prosecution is poised to link up the testimony and bring more or bolster the story’s of Bailey and Young, from my vantage point and without the benefit of anything of input from the media or any external sources, I would have no idea what the Cherokee County landfill situation, the extortion of Philip Jordan or the revenue ruling would have any bearing on the indictment or the alleged crimes of the defendants. I can likewise find no illegal activity associated with beer sales at Talladega. Although the motorcycle, the ATV and Paul Hamrick’s BMW still looms as the physical artifacts of a possible payoff scheme, I would still have no clear picture of the supposed illegal activity of the defendants, or the nature of the conspiracy, except the clear knowledge that Nick Bailey and Lanny Young are criminals. I would have a fairly clear picture of the Scrushy situation, and although it is not impossible the jury may find Scrushy and Siegelman culpable, serious doubts would have been raised because Nick Bailey is an unreliable witness who offered several versions of the story.
Scan the chart and see if this viewpoint might be accurate. Remember that I am not suggesting that a clear picture of the Cherokee County situation or the GH Construction project could emerge if we combined our independent knowledge with research, but I am saying that after going over my detailed notes, this is what it looked like from the courtroom. The government will undoubtedly try to shore things up with a lineup of corroborating witnesses, but this might be a formidable task when the pillars of their case, the mastheads they had planned to furl their sails on, are weak and crumbling.