Word: loreans
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Lorean's acquittal renews doubts about criminals as accusers
During the Los Angeles trial that ended with John De Lorean's acquittal on charges of drug conspiracy and possession, a striking tableau could be seen. At the defendant's table sat De Lorean, tall and handsome, boyish despite his 59 years, as smooth and sleek as the sports car he briefly manufactured. In the witness chair sat his key accuser, James Timothy Hoffman, 43, a hulking, 250-lb. convicted drug dealer and admitted perjurer whose latest job was as a professional informer, setting up his friends and acquaintances for Government stings. When the obese Hoffman appeared...
...contrast was obviously not lost on the jury. Indeed, the failure of the Government's prosecution of De Lorean called into question not only its handling of undercover operations but also a separate, though often related, procedure: the use of criminals as witnesses. The De Lorean case was the Government's third defeat in the past four months in major trials involving witnesses with unsavory backgrounds. Earlier this month, in a Cook County, Ill., case that was part of the Greylord investigation of judicial corruption, Judge John G. Laurie was cleared of bribery and other charges in part...
...Claiborne case proved, convictions can rarely be won on the basis of such testimony. "Corroboration is the key," says Stephen Trott, chief of the Justice Department's criminal division. "Without corroboration, you're probably dead in the water." In the De Lorean case, the prosecution thought it had plenty of corroboration: dozens of audio-and videotapes in which the industrialist seemed to agree to invest in a 220-lb. cocaine deal. But the jurors indicated in interviews after the acquittal that they regarded the tapes as inconclusive; they were more concerned about the credibility of the witnesses...
...McCormack's experiences, from playing tennis against Bjorn Borg to convincing Andre Heiniger, managing director of Rolex, that his company should be a Wimbledon sponsor. To illustrate the importance of research and learning from mistakes, McCormack writes of an episode in which he tried to sell John De Lorean, then head of General Motors' Pontiac division, on a new promotional campaign tied to the company's Indianhead logo. De Lorean's bemused response...