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Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) has filed the documents to appeal a judge’s ruling in his corruption case, likely delaying his trial, which had been scheduled to begin next Monday. Jefferson’s attorneys filed a notice of appeal Wednesday with the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The notice indicates that they will appeal the Feb. 6 ruling of U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III, who ruled the case against Jefferson is valid. The lawmaker had urged the judge to dismiss the case, saying grand jury testimony in the case violated the “speech and debate clause,” which protects members’ legislative work from intervention by other branches of government, such as the federal prosecutors in the executive branch. Ellis agreed with the prosecutors’ argument that Jefferson’s interpretation was overly broad and would prevent a member of Congress from ever being formally accused of a crime associated with his or her work in Congress. “It’s not an expansive immunity. It’s a focused immunity,” Ellis said in his ruling. Because Ellis’s ruling, and today’s appeal, bears on constitutional questions regarding the separation of powers, the pre-trial appeal could put off Jefferson’s trial. No formal decision had been entered into the court file as of Wednesday afternoon. |
