The trial begins soon. Former Governor Don Siegelman, Paul Hamrick, Mack Roberts and Richard Scrushy face indictments ranging from racketeering to bribery.
The first thing to remember is all of the defendants are INNOCENT until prosecutors prove the case against them. The federal government has not had a lot of luck in winning other cases against some of these defendants. Although there may be strong evidence against the defendants, proving where politics stops and bribery and corruption begin may be a problem.
Second, the only people that are really of any importance in this case are the people in the jury box. All of the legal teams will be trying to win that audience over. What the media or anyone else thinks won't matter a hill of beans.
The Scrushy defense team in Birmingham made a strong case that it may matter more whether or not the jury likes the lawyers representing the defendant than whether or not they like the defendant. 
Scrushy's chief jury sweet-talker, Jim Parkman from the Birmingham trial, is not at the defense table for this one. It remains to be seen who takes up that role, if anyone. It may be last minute addition to the Scrushy team, the venerable Fred Gray.
But there are plenty of high priced, very good lawyers in the courtroom including former Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley and it will be quite a tussle.
Third, the lead prosecutor Louis Franklin has told reporters he wants to tell a story and keep it simple for the jury. The problem with that lovely strategy is there are four defendants in this case. All the defense lawyers are going to try their best to confuse the issues and sell the jury theories of their own making. This trial is full of politicians, businessmen, lobbyists, and lawyers - have you ever known this grouping to keep anything simple?
Fourth and most importantly WSFA.com will keep you up-to-date with this blog. The Courtroom Chronicles will be a live blog of events as they happen. You won't have to be by a television or the radio while you're at work. We invite your comments, please stay on topic and engage in civil discourse. Posts will be often and frequent.
There's an 8:30 a.m. hearing about new Scrushy defense addition Fred Gray with the trial set to begin at 9 a.m. First up opening arguments.
