Judge Excludes Memory Expert From Libby Trial
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
Friday, November 3, 2006
Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby will not be allowed to use a memory expert at his perjury and obstruction trial, a federal judge ruled yesterday, blocking a key tactic in Libby's defense strategy.
Libby, who is accused of lying to investigators in the CIA leak case, wanted an expert to testify that memory is unreliable, especially during times of stress. Libby says he had national security issues on his mind and any misstatements he made about the leak of CIA officer Valerie Plame's name were mistakes, not lies.
U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton said allowing a memory expert would be a waste of time and would only confuse jurors. Walton said jurors, like everyone else, understand that memory sometimes falters and can judge whether witnesses are reliable.
The issue provided the case's first courtroom drama last week when Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald spent hours questioning memory expert Elizabeth F. Loftus's research. Fitzgerald picked apart the psychologist's testimony until she acknowledged errors and misstatements in her findings.
The trial is set to begin in January. Libby's attorneys have said the former aide to Vice President Cheney will testify.
Plame's CIA status was leaked in 2003 as her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, criticized the Bush administration's prewar intelligence on Iraq. Plame believes she was outed as retribution, an allegation Fitzgerald spent three years investigating. Nobody has been charged with violating a law by discussing Plame.
