COVERITLIVE.COM

12:28

philly.com - Monica Yant Kinney will be available for questions and comments at 1 p.m.

12:56

[Comment From Guest]
what is you gut feeling on the out come of this trial?

12:57

monica - Hi everyone. Glad you could make it. Presuming you're here to talk about the Fumo case and not the Eagles.

12:59

monica - My gut feeling? That if I was a juror, after 4 months and 107 witnesses, I'd be pretty steamed. It was, if nothing else, epic.
That said, I hope they weigh each charge individually and come to thoughtful conclusion.

1:00	monica - I keep coming back to the strange defense strategy that everything Fumo did was okay, that he could have taken more. I can't fathom how that will sit with everyday working people who have to pay their way in the world.

1:00

[Comment From Guest]
Monica -- is the Fumo legal team trying to get any of the 139 counts dismissed? I was surprised the case went to the jury, without some arguing that the government didn't make their case on some of the issues. This is from all my arm chair law school (Law and Order and CSI) so perhaps they didn't have an option to do that

1:01	monica - As I recall, two counts were dropped last week, so he now faces 137 instead of 139. Hardly a huge victory, but it should be noted.

1:01

[Comment From John Pierron]
In any of the court testimony, did the prosecution produce records of the Senate payroll in Fumo's office.... that showed whether employees were paid overtime or did he cover the overtime with the much higher salaries? And secondly..... did they turn in time sheets for their daily or weekly work ???

1:02

monica - Hi John, Let me start by saying I didn't cover the entire trial and am not the resident expert. But if memory serves, the defense argument has always been that Team Fumo worked well beyond its 37.5 contracted hours -- and that all the "extra" work, like cleaning the boss's toilets and spying on ex-girlfriends, was out of the goodness of their hearts, an example of their love and devotion.

1:02	[Comment From guest] did you get the impression that the jury was leaning one way or the other?

1:04	monica - You know, juries are hard to read. Some of them seemed more intently focused than others. Some seemed bored/annoyed. One appears to be about 7 months pregnant. As a recent Mom, I really felt for her -- sitting there for hours each day could not have been fun.

1:04	monica - I will say that when I was there, the jury did not laugh at any of Fumo's attempted jokes. They did seem to be charmed/amused by Richard Sprague's sometimes self-deprecating testimony.

1:05	[Comment From phil] Its like that chapelle's standup....I didn't know I couldn't do that officer

1:06	monica - Certainly begs the question that if all of this was perfectly legal, why aren't we all doing it? I know, personally, I hate cleaning my house. And I could really use a taxpayer-funded personal driver.

1:06	[Comment From old 39th] do you think that the investagation will go further? like palermo and or rubin?

1:07	monica - Can't say that I've focused on whether there is more to come on this one. The stakes are so high -- Fumo is, er, was, the most powerful Democrat in the state, as he repeatedly reminded us on the witness stand -- that I'm more curious to see if he is convicted and the ripple effect.

1:09	[Comment From Jeffrey Crane] Why didn't the government charge Fumo with extortation in getting the 17 million from PECO?

1:10	monica - Great question, Jeffrey, one I've wondered about myself. Common sense says the "victim" would have to make the charge and from what I remember, Peco didn't balk.

1:10	[Comment From Mark] So Ruth stayed loyal to the end. Were you surprised that she did not take the stand?

1:11	monica - I was less surprised that she didn't take the stand than I was that he did. I watched most of Fumo's performance and, let's just say it wouldn't win any Oscars. Maybe a Razzie.

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