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Even the NFLN, who has been rather circumspect and somewhat late to the fray, is sounding as if they think Mike is going down for the count. A Federal judge issued a sealed warrent today at the request of the US Agriculture Department investigators who then informed Poindexter they were searching and digging. Poindexter seems quite rattled to the point he's playing the celebrity-race card.
Some excerpts from PFT:
POSTED 10:29 p.m. EDT, June 7, 2007
POINDEXTER PLAYS THE RACE CARD
Surry County, Virginia prosecutor Gerald Poindexter is providing even more justification for the decision of the feds to take over the Mike Vick dog-fighting investigation. Instead of shutting his mouth and getting on with his life, Poindexter is complaining about the fact that someone has finally begun to develop the evidence in the case...
And as we learned in law school, there's a big difference between factual guilt and legal guilt. A guy might have "done it," but in the eyes of the law he's not factually guilty until a jury returns a verdict based on the inherently difficult standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
We'd been concerned for weeks that the apparent factual guilt of Mike Vick would never result in a finding of legal guilt (or even in an effort to prove legal guilt via a trial) because Poindexter, a part-time prosecutor, didn't want to be snowed under by a dream team that would have made his life miserable for the next 20 months. We dismissed the notion that Poindexter was giving Vick a pass based on their shared race...
Tonight, we're not so sure. Poindexter is openly suggesting that the federal takeover of the investigation was motivated by race. And his Uncle Leo style resort to this presumption suggests that Poindexter perhaps was and is motivated by such matters in his own mind.
"There's a larger thing here, and it has nothing to do with any breach of protocol," Poindexter said after the investigation was wrested from him. "There's something awful going on here. I don't know if it's racial. I don't know what it is."
Poindexter had more to say:
"What is foreign to me is the federal government getting into a dogfighting case. I know it's been done, but what's driving this? Is it this boy's celebrity? Would they have done this if it wasn't Michael Vick?
"Apparently these people want it. They want it, and I don't believe they want it because of the serious criminal consequences involved. . . . They want it because Michael Vick may be involved."
In our view, it is about celebrity, but not about race. Martha Stewart was prosecuted based on celebrity, not race. Scooter Libby was prosecuted based on celebrity, not race. The reality is that, by periodically felling a tall tree, the feds can create a ruckus in the forest loud enough to let the rest of us know that no one is above the law, and that if we don't stay on the right side of the rules of society, we can get chopped down, too...
Now, they're commencing the process of determining whether they can show that he is legally guilty.
And Poindexter's tantrum tells us that, regardless of his motivation, he was determined to give Vick a pass.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
POSTED 6:34 p.m. EDT, June 7, 2007
FEDS SEARCHING FOR DOG CARCASSES, BLOOD
Patrick Terpstra of WVEC-TV reports that federal authorities searching Mike Vick's Surry County, Virginia property are looking for dog carcasses, more dog-fighting equipment, and blood.
The search warrant was issued on Thursday by a federal magistrate judge in Richmond.
All things considered, this is a horrible development for Vick. It means that the federal government is fully engaged in the process, and that Mike can expect to be contacted soon to provide his side of the story.
If he chooses to talk, he should also tell the truth. If he thinks he can pull a fast one on the feds, he should chat with Martha Stewart or Scooter Libby.
If Vick faces federal charges, he won't be in front of a jury plucked from rural Surry County. The jurors will come from a much broader swath of countryside.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
POSTED 6:02 p.m. EDT, June 7, 2007
POINDEXTER GETS PUNTED
In yet another stunning development from a roller coaster investigation that has featured contradictory public statements from the part-time prosecuting attorney, federal authorities are searching Vick's Surry County, Virginia property.
Oh, and prosecutor Gerald Poindexter is off the case. Finally.
The search comes only a week or so after Poindexter and Sheriff Harold Brown put the kibosh (whatever in the hell a kibosh is) on a search warrant issued on May 25 by a Surry County magistrate.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the feds have taken control of the investigation.
Said Poindexter: "Mike Vick, is he the target? Who else would be? I never imagined such interest.
So why are the feds on the case? "Obviously if the feds come in, the jurisdictional basis is some sort of interstate violation," Poindexter said. "We don't know what it is -- the training of dogs, gambling racketeering, whatever they want to call it."
Poindexter was advised at 3:15 p.m. EDT that federal agents and state police were at the property. Poindexter was told that a search was proceeding pursuant to a "sealed" warrant obtained by federal authorities.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm
Some excerpts from PFT:
POSTED 10:29 p.m. EDT, June 7, 2007
POINDEXTER PLAYS THE RACE CARD
Surry County, Virginia prosecutor Gerald Poindexter is providing even more justification for the decision of the feds to take over the Mike Vick dog-fighting investigation. Instead of shutting his mouth and getting on with his life, Poindexter is complaining about the fact that someone has finally begun to develop the evidence in the case...
And as we learned in law school, there's a big difference between factual guilt and legal guilt. A guy might have "done it," but in the eyes of the law he's not factually guilty until a jury returns a verdict based on the inherently difficult standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
We'd been concerned for weeks that the apparent factual guilt of Mike Vick would never result in a finding of legal guilt (or even in an effort to prove legal guilt via a trial) because Poindexter, a part-time prosecutor, didn't want to be snowed under by a dream team that would have made his life miserable for the next 20 months. We dismissed the notion that Poindexter was giving Vick a pass based on their shared race...
Tonight, we're not so sure. Poindexter is openly suggesting that the federal takeover of the investigation was motivated by race. And his Uncle Leo style resort to this presumption suggests that Poindexter perhaps was and is motivated by such matters in his own mind.
"There's a larger thing here, and it has nothing to do with any breach of protocol," Poindexter said after the investigation was wrested from him. "There's something awful going on here. I don't know if it's racial. I don't know what it is."
Poindexter had more to say:
"What is foreign to me is the federal government getting into a dogfighting case. I know it's been done, but what's driving this? Is it this boy's celebrity? Would they have done this if it wasn't Michael Vick?
"Apparently these people want it. They want it, and I don't believe they want it because of the serious criminal consequences involved. . . . They want it because Michael Vick may be involved."
In our view, it is about celebrity, but not about race. Martha Stewart was prosecuted based on celebrity, not race. Scooter Libby was prosecuted based on celebrity, not race. The reality is that, by periodically felling a tall tree, the feds can create a ruckus in the forest loud enough to let the rest of us know that no one is above the law, and that if we don't stay on the right side of the rules of society, we can get chopped down, too...
Now, they're commencing the process of determining whether they can show that he is legally guilty.
And Poindexter's tantrum tells us that, regardless of his motivation, he was determined to give Vick a pass.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
POSTED 6:34 p.m. EDT, June 7, 2007
FEDS SEARCHING FOR DOG CARCASSES, BLOOD
Patrick Terpstra of WVEC-TV reports that federal authorities searching Mike Vick's Surry County, Virginia property are looking for dog carcasses, more dog-fighting equipment, and blood.
The search warrant was issued on Thursday by a federal magistrate judge in Richmond.
All things considered, this is a horrible development for Vick. It means that the federal government is fully engaged in the process, and that Mike can expect to be contacted soon to provide his side of the story.
If he chooses to talk, he should also tell the truth. If he thinks he can pull a fast one on the feds, he should chat with Martha Stewart or Scooter Libby.
If Vick faces federal charges, he won't be in front of a jury plucked from rural Surry County. The jurors will come from a much broader swath of countryside.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
POSTED 6:02 p.m. EDT, June 7, 2007
POINDEXTER GETS PUNTED
In yet another stunning development from a roller coaster investigation that has featured contradictory public statements from the part-time prosecuting attorney, federal authorities are searching Vick's Surry County, Virginia property.
Oh, and prosecutor Gerald Poindexter is off the case. Finally.
The search comes only a week or so after Poindexter and Sheriff Harold Brown put the kibosh (whatever in the hell a kibosh is) on a search warrant issued on May 25 by a Surry County magistrate.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the feds have taken control of the investigation.
Said Poindexter: "Mike Vick, is he the target? Who else would be? I never imagined such interest.
So why are the feds on the case? "Obviously if the feds come in, the jurisdictional basis is some sort of interstate violation," Poindexter said. "We don't know what it is -- the training of dogs, gambling racketeering, whatever they want to call it."
Poindexter was advised at 3:15 p.m. EDT that federal agents and state police were at the property. Poindexter was told that a search was proceeding pursuant to a "sealed" warrant obtained by federal authorities.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm
