Fates of Brooks and Coulson in Tabloid Hacking Case Are
Diverging
By SARAH LYALL
New York Times
December 2, 2013
LONDON — Once they were friends and colleagues who reveled in the heady world of British news,
politics and intrigue. Together they rose from the scrappy newsrooms of London’s tabloids to the
heights of establishment power, she as head of Rupert Murdoch’s British
newspaper empire, he as Prime Minister David Cameron’s
chief spokesman. For six years they were lovers, carrying on their affair even as each
married someone else.
Rebekah Brooks walked away from her job with a $17.6 million severance package.
Andy Coulson has lost more.
Now Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson are together again, this time in the dock at the Old Bailey,
London’s main criminal court, facing charges of illegally intercepting voice messages and other
crimes in connection with their work for Mr. Murdoch’s now-defunct News of the World tabloid.
Since their arrests, their lives have sharply diverged.
...In addition to Mr. Coulson and Ms. Brooks, there are six
other defendants, among them Charlie Brooks, Ms. Brooks’s
husband, who has been accused of conspiring with her to
destroy evidence.
More trials are expected to follow. What began as an investigation into the illegal
interception of voice mail messages has grown into a sprawling octopus of a case,
with law-enforcement strands stretching in many directions and involving more than
160 police officers and staff members; at least 1,000 likely victims from politics, sports,
show business and the media; and millions of emails and other documents.
It is far too early to say how the case will end; the defendants’ lawyers have not
started presenting their arguments. But on the surface, at least, Mr. Coulson looks to
be in a worse position than Ms. Brooks. While prosecutors have already introduced
email and voice mail messages that they say directly link Mr. Coulson to phone
hacking, they have not yet presented similar evidence in the case of Ms. Brooks.
She and her husband seem more vulnerable to the charge of conspiring to pervert
the course of justice. The prosecution contends that they illegally removed files from
the office and tried to discard a laptop that potentially contained evidence in the case.
As for Mr. Coulson, even when this case is finished, his woes will not be over. Whether
or not he is convicted, he faces a second trial in Scotland, which has a different legal
system from England’s and a reputation for being tough on English journalists. He
stands accused there of committing perjury while testifying in the trial of a
Scottish politician who, among other things, claimed his phone had been
hacked.
In that trial, Mr. Coulson repeatedly declared that there was no phone hacking going
on at the News of the World...
Diverging
By SARAH LYALL
New York Times
December 2, 2013
LONDON — Once they were friends and colleagues who reveled in the heady world of British news,
politics and intrigue. Together they rose from the scrappy newsrooms of London’s tabloids to the
heights of establishment power, she as head of Rupert Murdoch’s British
newspaper empire, he as Prime Minister David Cameron’s
chief spokesman. For six years they were lovers, carrying on their affair even as each
married someone else.
Rebekah Brooks walked away from her job with a $17.6 million severance package.
Andy Coulson has lost more.
Now Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson are together again, this time in the dock at the Old Bailey,
London’s main criminal court, facing charges of illegally intercepting voice messages and other
crimes in connection with their work for Mr. Murdoch’s now-defunct News of the World tabloid.
Since their arrests, their lives have sharply diverged.
...In addition to Mr. Coulson and Ms. Brooks, there are six
other defendants, among them Charlie Brooks, Ms. Brooks’s
husband, who has been accused of conspiring with her to
destroy evidence.
More trials are expected to follow. What began as an investigation into the illegal
interception of voice mail messages has grown into a sprawling octopus of a case,
with law-enforcement strands stretching in many directions and involving more than
160 police officers and staff members; at least 1,000 likely victims from politics, sports,
show business and the media; and millions of emails and other documents.
It is far too early to say how the case will end; the defendants’ lawyers have not
started presenting their arguments. But on the surface, at least, Mr. Coulson looks to
be in a worse position than Ms. Brooks. While prosecutors have already introduced
email and voice mail messages that they say directly link Mr. Coulson to phone
hacking, they have not yet presented similar evidence in the case of Ms. Brooks.
She and her husband seem more vulnerable to the charge of conspiring to pervert
the course of justice. The prosecution contends that they illegally removed files from
the office and tried to discard a laptop that potentially contained evidence in the case.
As for Mr. Coulson, even when this case is finished, his woes will not be over. Whether
or not he is convicted, he faces a second trial in Scotland, which has a different legal
system from England’s and a reputation for being tough on English journalists. He
stands accused there of committing perjury while testifying in the trial of a
Scottish politician who, among other things, claimed his phone had been
hacked.
In that trial, Mr. Coulson repeatedly declared that there was no phone hacking going
on at the News of the World...
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CVESD isn't the only district to
spoliate evidence: Superintendent in
Steubenville, Ohio indicted
spoliate evidence: Superintendent in
Steubenville, Ohio indicted
CTA officials also spoliated evidence
in support of Rick Werlin
in support of Rick Werlin
Concealing evidence, spoliation, perjury--and hacking