Conrad Black Set to Appeal

Conrad Black's lawyer will appear before an American appeals court on Wednesday to persuade a panel of judges that the former publishing mogul's convictions should be dropped due to a reinterpretation of American fraud law. Defence and prosecution lawyers will make 20-minute arguments for the judges to consider as they decide the fate of Black and three of his former Hollinger colleagues also convicted of fraud in July 2007. Black is free on bail after serving more than two years of a six-and-a-half year sentence in a Florida prison on convictions for fraud and obstruction of justice.

The U.S. Supreme Court set aside the fraud convictions in June, saying the so-called "honest services" argument used by U.S. prosecutors has a more narrow focus than what has previously been employed in white-collar crime cases. The top court didn't throw out Black's convictions, but it did order that the appeal court have another look at the case to see if they held up under the new guidelines.

It's difficult to gauge whether or not the general public actually cares about these proceedings. The reality is that Conrad Black is guilty of committing fraud. At this point, whether or not his high priced lawyer is able to have the remainder of his sentence dismissed due to a legal technicality seems to be yet another example of the wealthy and prominent being able to manipulate the legal system, rather than justice actually being served.