Changes

8. In a famous recent trial, former football star O. J. Simpson was acquitted by a jury of the crime of murdering his wife.  The key argument in the trial was that the prosecutions' key witness, the policeman who gathered most of the evidence in the case, was shown to have lied, and the jury apparently found the argument that he may have tampered with the evidence credible, at least to the extent of giving them a "reasonable doubt."  In an apparently contradictory finding, a different jury found in a civil case ("lawsuit") that O. J. Simpson was responsible for the death of his wife, and assessed civil penalties.  Since the standards of proof is "preponderance of evidence" in a civil case, however, it is much easier to prove civil liability to a jury than it is to prove criminal guilt, and hance these results are not necessarily contradictory.

8. In a famous recent trial, former football star O. J. Simpson was acquitted by a jury of the crime of murdering his wife.  The key argument in the trial was that the prosecutions' key witness, the policeman who gathered most of the evidence in the case, was shown to have lied, and the jury apparently found the argument that he may have tampered with the evidence credible, at least to the extent of giving them a "reasonable doubt."  In an apparently contradictory finding, a different jury found in a civil case ("lawsuit") that O. J. Simpson was responsible for the death of his wife, and assessed civil penalties.  Since the standards of proof is "preponderance of evidence" in a civil case, however, it is much easier to prove civil liability to a jury than it is to prove criminal guilt, and hance these results are not necessarily contradictory.

9. In 2007, vice-presidential aide Lewis "Scotter" Libby was accused of perjury for lying to a grand jury hearing testimony about the "leak" that resulted in revealing the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame. (It is important to note that he was not accused of illegally revealing the identity of Plame, potentially a much serious charge if he had deliberately revealed her as a CIA agent while knowing her identity was covert; in fact this was shown to be a non-issue).  Like the Clinton impeachment trial years earlier, the charge was lying to a grand jury over a matter that was not in itself illegal.  The jury verdict will tell much about the responsibility and immunity of the executive branch.

9. In 2007, vice-presidential aide Lewis "Scotter" Libby was accused of perjury and obstruction of justice for lying to a grand jury . It is important to note that he was not accused of illegally revealing the identity of Valerie Plame, a CIA agent working on

controlling nuclear proliferation  because his perjury and obstruction of justice derailed the investigation.  In a press conference the day the indictment was handed down used the analogy that Libby's actions had thrown sand into the umpire's eyes, making

legal judgment of the underlying crime impossible.  Libby was convicted on 4 of 5 counts.