Former media baron Conrad Black’s change in status from chief executive officer of Hollinger International to criminal defendant (Black stands accused in the United States of wire fraud, financial misdealing, and “abuse of perquisites”) has not substantially altered his lifestyle. Still, the British peer—Black gave up his Canadian citizenship in order to become “Lord” Black—worries that when his case goes to trial next month in Chicago, jurors may not understand the complexity of his material needs. So he’s seeking mercy from the court.
In a motion filed in September (see below and on the following seven pages), his lordship’s lawyers argue that certain allegations in the indictment engender “class prejudice.” The motion requests on Pages 6 and 7 that references to Black’s “membership in the House of Lords”; to his multiple residences (some of them admittedly decorated in “lavish fashion”); to the (presumably less lavish) servants’ living quarters situated therein; and to the surprise party Black threw for his ladyship and 80 guests at La Grenouille—that mention of these bagatelles, plus a few others, be stricken from the indictment. After all, Black’s attorneys point out, a “typical juror does not reside in more than one residence, employ servants or a chauffeur … or host expensive parties.” Allow not nature more than nature needs/ Man’s life’s as cheap as beast’s …
The judge denied the motion. Many thanks to Maureen Orth, author of a delicious Black profile in the February 2007 Vanity Fair, for sharing this document.
