ALEXANDRIA, Va. - No one mentioned Donald Trump. Robert Mueller, either. The word "Russia" was not uttered.
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But Asonye's effort to deliver a classically simple, prosecutor's zinger of an opening got tripped up as U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis interrupted Asonye twice in his first minute, first admonishing him to steer away from bold assertions and only tell the jury what the evidence would show, then halting the prosecutor's description of Manafort's lavish lifestyle.
"It isn't a crime to be profligate in your spending," Ellis said.
With more than a dozen of his colleagues from the federal investigation alongside and behind him, Asonye recovered quickly, keeping jurors riveted through a 26-minute opening statement that portrayed Manafort as someone who lied about his taxes, his income, his business, and a litany of other topics.
Mueller's prosecutors, nearly all in dark navy blue suits, had entered the courtroom with a studied determination. They wheeled in 10 boxes of documents on two carts. They sat among themselves before the proceedings began, trading stories about scary judges and their first year in law school.
They looked, in contrast with Manafort's defense team, like Alexandria, the diverse Potomac riverfront suburb where the trial is being held because Manafort lives nearby. The prosecution table included Asonye, who is African American; two younger white men, and a female FBI agent.
https://www.lmtonline.com/news/article/Manafort-on-trial-A-scorched-earth-prosecutor-13121415.php
[clip]
But Asonye's effort to deliver a classically simple, prosecutor's zinger of an opening got tripped up as U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis interrupted Asonye twice in his first minute, first admonishing him to steer away from bold assertions and only tell the jury what the evidence would show, then halting the prosecutor's description of Manafort's lavish lifestyle.
"It isn't a crime to be profligate in your spending," Ellis said.
With more than a dozen of his colleagues from the federal investigation alongside and behind him, Asonye recovered quickly, keeping jurors riveted through a 26-minute opening statement that portrayed Manafort as someone who lied about his taxes, his income, his business, and a litany of other topics.
Mueller's prosecutors, nearly all in dark navy blue suits, had entered the courtroom with a studied determination. They wheeled in 10 boxes of documents on two carts. They sat among themselves before the proceedings began, trading stories about scary judges and their first year in law school.
They looked, in contrast with Manafort's defense team, like Alexandria, the diverse Potomac riverfront suburb where the trial is being held because Manafort lives nearby. The prosecution table included Asonye, who is African American; two younger white men, and a female FBI agent.
https://www.lmtonline.com/news/article/Manafort-on-trial-A-scorched-earth-prosecutor-13121415.php