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The jury delivered it’s verdict and Scooter Libby has been found guilty on 4 of the 5 charges against him. The one charge that was dismissed related to making false statements although one of the charges he was convicted on is for perjury in front of the Grand Jury.

A pre-sentencing report will be delivered on March 15th that should give some indication on how much time Mr. Libby can expect to spend in jail; he faces up to 30 years.

The New York Times took the opportunity to use the case as a springboard to regurgitate Joe Wilson’s claims; careful not to highlight the fact that Joe Wilson himself was less than truthful in the events that led him to Nigeria and his wife’s involvement. But that of course will not deter the American left who are no doubt celebrating the witch hunt on the Valerie Plame outing despite the fact that there have been no criminal charges in her outing.

Patrick Fitzgerald has been so embarrassingly inept ineffective in this case that the jurors were still confused as to what Mr. Libby was charged with going into deliberations. They were so confused in fact that they had to seek clarification from Judge Walton this morning on the last day of deliberations to determine if Mr. Libby was accused of making a false statement to a reporter from Time magazine. The judge said he was not accused of this. Yet somehow the confused jurors manged to appear clear headed enough to find him guilty of charges that they weren’t clear on themselves.

Anyone who has a stake in the American justice system should be appalled at the way this case was handled by the prosecution.

Update: Talk Left has a copy of the Judges response to the jurors. Not that I am not upset that Libby was found guilty, if he lied then he gets what he gets. But there seems to be something amiss if the jury is so confused on the final day of deliberations that they don’t know exactly what Mr. Libby is charged with. This should be a cause of concern and would certainly make me a little worried if such confused people were deciding my fate. Thankfully this is an American court and there is an appeals process.

All of this leads to speculation that the judge may use the option to throw out the verdict because of such confusion and will certainly be used in the appeals process.

Fitzchristmas may come late and be a little disappointing for the left who were hoping for Karl Rove but at least they get their token conviction on one of the figures close to the Valerie Plame debacle.

MSN Memorandum highlights the charges:

• Obstruction of justice: GUILTY
• False statements to FBI investigators (Russert conversation): GUILTY
• False statement to FBI investigators (Cooper conversation): NOT GUILTY
• Perjury to the grand jury (Russert conversation): GUILTY
• Perjury to the grand jury (Cooper conversation): GUILTY

The Washington Post elaborates on the possible sentence:

Under federal sentencing guidlines, Libby faces a probable prison term of 1 1/2 to three years when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton June 5.

As the jury forewoman read each guilty count in a clear, solemn voice, Libby was impassive, remaining seated at the defense table, gazing straight ahead and displaying no visible emotion. His wife, Harriet Grant, sat in the front row with tears in her eyes and was was embraced by friends. Later she hugged each of Libby’s lawyers.

A few minutes after the jury was dismissed, Libby appeared coatless outside the federal courthouse with his two main lawyers, Theodore V. Wells Jr. and William Jeffress Jr. Wells issued a brief statement to the crush of reporters and television crews.

“We intend to file a motion for a new trial,” Wells said. “If that is denied, we will file an appeal. We believe Mr. Libby eventually will be vindicated.”

” We intend to keep fighting for his innocence,” he added.

Update II: Byron York puts the jury confusion into perspective.

It’s easy to criticize the jury — they can seem easily confused — but the problem here is not the jury. It is the charge. This is the entirety of Count 3 (and Count 5, as well): Libby testified that he told Cooper that reporters were telling him, Libby, that Valerie Plame Wilson worked for the CIA, but that he, Libby, did not know if it was true. Cooper testified that Libby did not say that. There are no notes, no recordings, no records, no nothing to support either man’s story. Just Libby’s testimony versus Cooper’s testimony. And prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has asked the jury to convict Libby of a felony, one that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, on that astonishingly flimsy allegation. No wonder the jury is confused.

It is clear that the American left hates the Bush administration and anyone remotely connected to it. But nobody should celebrate a verdict against their enemies that are upheld on such flimsy evidence. This is the line that delineates between political vindictiveness and American justice.

Update III: The Democrat spin machine is in full swing:

Speaker Pelosi’s Blog has the following:

Libby Guilty Verdicts Not Solely About Acts of One Individual

Today’s guilty verdicts are not solely about the acts of one individual.

This trial provided a troubling picture of the inner workings of the Bush Administration. The testimony unmistakably revealed – at the highest levels of the Bush Administration – a callous disregard in handling sensitive national security information and a disposition to smear critics of the war in Iraq.

Surprise. This by the Speaker of the House who put an unindicted co-conspirator in charge of defense appropriations.

Harry Reid had the following to say:

“It’s about time some one in the Bush administration has been held accountable for the campaign to manipulate intelligence and discredit war critics,” Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said after the verdict was announced.

Now only if we can get someone to look into your land deals.

I thoroughly expect the Democrats to use this as an opportunity to wheel out the broad brush; after all this is the new Congress, the one that plans to bring civility back, NOT.

Others: Michelle Malkin, Sister Toldjah, Wizbang, Mary Katharine Ham

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