Chapter39
THIRTY-NINE
Washington, D.C. -- FBI
WHAT SHOULD WE
do with these?” Newman had a bunch of opened letters in his hand.
“What are they?” Vanderwaal asked.
“Letters to the president from jurors and the judge in the president’s pen-pal's trial,” Newman said.
“What do they say?”
Newman pulled out the foreman’s letter:
Dear Mr. President,
I hear you’re considering a pardon for Mr. Ruskjer.
I’m the foreman on the jury that convicted him last year. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time. But since then, I’ve had time to dig deeper into the matter.
I believe, Mr. President, that we made a mistake. It’s too late for me or the other jurors to do anything about it now. But it’s not too late for you.
I’m now convinced -- beyond a reasonable doubt -- that Mr. Ruskjer was the victim of a prosecutor who intentionally confused the issues, misrepresented the facts, and led us -- a willing group of jurors -- to believe that Mr. Ruskjer lied to people about may things -- none of which turned out to be the case.
In hindsight, I now believe it was the prosecutor who blatantly lied and intentionally distorted the truth to paint a totally artificial picture of the defendant.
Recently, I polled the jury -- actually, right before writing to you. If it helps, they all agree that Mr. Ruskjer may not be the poster boy for how to run a business, but he is not guilty of fraud on any count.
We are -- each one of us -- willing to go public, if you need us to.
Please pardon Mr. Ruskjer now. This travesty has gone on long enough.
Sincerely,
Forest Pierce
Foreman
“The others aren’t as eloquent, but essentially say the same thing,” Newman said.
“There’s one dissenting vote, that being from Judge Ellen Fillmore. I think she would prefer a public lynching in the middle of town square -- on national television. And that’s without knowledge of Ruskjer’s involvement with the armored car robberies.”
“Give ‘em to me. I’ll see that they get over to Loughman at NSA. He’s in charge of making a recommendation to the president,” Vanderwaal said.