Hello.
John Poindexter's conviction was indeed reversed on appeal.
From CSMonitor.com:
'Poindexter, like Oliver North, who reported to him, was convicted in
federal district court of lying to Congress and of obstruction.The
conviction was overturned on technical grounds by an appeals court
majority of two Reagan-appointed judges, Douglas Ginsburg and David
Sentelle, over the vigorous dissent of Carter-appointed judge Abner
Mikva.'
source: Christian Science Monitor
http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1129/p11s01-coop.html
From the Iran-Contra report of Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh:
'The Appeal
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia Circuit in a 2-1 decision on November 15, 1991, reversed
Poindexter's convictions on the grounds that his trial was
impermissibly tainted by his immunized congressional testimony. The
Poindexter ruling was based on the appeals court decision in the North
case, which extended the protections of the use immunity statute to
prohibit use of any witness whose testimony has been refreshed or
shaped in any way by the defendant's immunized testimony. In his
dissenting opinion, Chief Judge Abner Mikva noted that the majority
ruling "tells future defendants that all they need to evade
responsibility [to testify at trial] is a well timed case of amnesia."
...
U.S. v. Poindexter, 951 F.2d 369, 390 (D.C. Cir. 1991).
The Poindexter appeals panel also overturned the two obstruction
convictions on the grounds that the statute was ``unconstitutionally
vague'' in its proscription of ``corruptly'' endeavoring to impede a
congressional inquiry. The appeals panel ruled that a defendant's
lying to Congress does not constitute obstruction unless the defendant
corruptly influences someone else to do so. Again, Chief Judge Mikva
dissented, finding it "obvious . . . that Poindexter 'corruptly'
obstructed the congressional investigation when he lied to Congress."'
sources: "Chapter 3: United States v. John M. Poindexter,"
Excerpted from FINAL REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT COUNSEL FOR IRAN/CONTRA
MATTERS (1993) by Lawrence E. Walsh, Independent Counsel, hosted by
Missouri.edu
http://foi.missouri.edu/journalismres/irancontrachpt3.html
Complete text also available from Federation of American Scientists:
http://fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/
------
As indicated in the preceding article, the citation for the appellate
court reversal of Poindexter's conviction is 951 F.2d 369 (D.C. Cir.
1991). If you'd like to obtain the complete text of the decision, it's
available from Lexis-Nexis for $9.
Here are instructions on how to do that:
(1) Go to:
http://web.lexis.com/xchange/forms/uas/casepull.asp
(2) In the "Enter Citation:" box, type: 951 F.2d 369
(3) Press the "search button"
(4) Register your credit card details when prompted
(5) You'll be given the opportunity to purchase the complete text of:
"United States v. Poindexter, No. 90-3125, UNITED STATES COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT, 292 U.S. App. D.C. 389;
951 F.2d 369; 1991 U.S. App. LEXIS 26824, February 28, 1991, Argued,
November 15, 1991, Decided
OVERVIEW: Defendant's conviction could not stand because the
Independent Counsel could not demonstrate that defendant's compelled
immunized testimony was not used against him at his trial in violation
of the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution."
Source: Lexis-Nexis
http://web.lexis.com/xchange/forms/uas/casepull.asp
search strategy:
poindexter, conviction, overturned, "appeals court"
poindexter, mikva, 1991
poindexter, 951 F.2d 369
I hope this helps. |
