MIAMI, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- In the brass-knuckles world of Alabama politics, the trial of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman may not stop him from trying for another term.
As his federal trial began with jury selection Monday, most believed a conviction would end Siegelman's political career, but an innocent verdict is entirely possible.
Even an acquittal would inflict political damage, but it depends on a number of factors.
Carol Cassel, professor of political science at the University of Alabama, said, "It depends on the nature of the acquittal."
She said Siegelman could survive and challenge the man who barely beat him in 2002, Gov. Bob Riley, "if it was demonstrated that in general the charges were not true."
She said an acquittal on technicalities or some inability by the prosecution to prove its case would hurt.
D'Linell Finley, political science professor at Auburn University at Montgomery, said a conviction would be the end.
"If he is convicted, that ends any thought of a political comeback unless some higher court throws out the charges, which wouldn't be done in time for the 2006 gubernatorial race," Finley told the Montgomery Advertiser.
"But if he is exonerated, then he certainly can make a strong case that these charges were politically motivated and did not have any merit in the first place," he said.
A poll taken in May by the Capital Research Survey of Montgomery showed Siegelman was the early leader in the 2006 gubernatorial primary.
The poll covered 786 likely voters and 36.5 percent said they would vote for Siegelman. However, political observers pointed out, that poll was taken before the emergence of Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley.
Siegelman is on trial in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on charges of conspiracy and healthcare fraud.
Prosecutors say Siegelman and former Chief of Staff Paul Hamrick have been charged with conspiring to set aside $550,000 in state money for Dr. Philip Bobo to a competitor for agreeing not to seek a Medicaid contract Bobo wanted.
Bobo, a Tuscaloosa physician, also faces those charges and others, but he will be tried separately.
Chief U.S. District Judge U.W. Clemon has thrown out one key charge against Siegelman and Hamrick and has raised doubts about the conspiracy charges.
Jury selection was scheduled for Monday but was delayed while Clemon determines whether the conspiracy charge is viable soon after that.
He said the evidence so far is not enough to present to a jury. If he throws out the charge, only the healthcare-fraud charge would remain.
Siegelman, who lost his re-election bid two years ago, has other legal problems. Montgomery prosecutors are considering additional grand-jury testimony delivered on other issues related to Siegelman's term in office.
Siegelman is on record with his charges that the case is politically motivated and "nothing more than Republican politics at its worst."
"My family and I are thrilled that the trial will finally be starting," Siegelman said in a statement.
"My goal from the beginning has been to move this process forward as quickly as possible so that my family and I can put all of this behind us, and so that the people of Alabama can see that the facts and the truth support me and not the prosecutors," he said.
The prosecution denies there is anything political about the trial.
"The government's case against defendants Siegelman and Hamrick is an important effort to fight corruption at the highest level of state government," said U.S. Attorney Alice Martin in a statement.
"We look forward to presenting the evidence supporting our case in court," she said.
Clemon is already the third judge assigned to the trial since the indictment was handed up May 27, and there was almost a fourth.
In June U.S. District Judge Lynwood Smith Jr., a second cousin to Gov. Bob Riley, stepped down. Two weeks later Judge L. Scott Coogler recused himself from the case because his children had been treated by Bobo.
Clemon was then appointed, but he had to refuse to recuse himself after a request by Martin. She appealed, and the appeals court turned her down Wednesday.
Martin argued that Clemon has expressed bias against the government in the past and once was targeted in a federal criminal investigation.
She also said Clemon's daughter, Michelle, worked for a law firm that has had "close ties to the Siegelman administration."
Clemon pointed out that he ruled against Siegelman in a case in 1980, but that was long before Siegelman became governor. Clemon certainly hasn't been kind to Martin's case so far.
He not only threw out one of the charges against the three defendants and another perjury charge against Bobo, he also cited prosecutors for contempt.
Clemon also threw out a charge of theft against the defendants for allegedly getting the Legislature to give $550,000 to the State Fire College in Tuscaloosa. Prosecutors said Bobo would have controlled that money once it got to the college.
Bobo is also charged with witness tampering and wire fraud in addition to the medical-fraud charge he shares with Siegelman and Hamrick.
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