The controversy may also be feeding anti-government feelings that many jurors bring to cases, even when defense lawyers do not overtly try to exploit the situation.
"It has become part of the background that jurors have in their minds when they deliberate," said Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), a former assistant U.S. attorney. "Jurors will think, 'Gee, is there a political motivation for this? Is it being brought because the U.S. attorney wants to curry favor with the attorney general and keep his job?' Corruption cases are tough enough to prosecute without having to defend yourself against attack."
Lawyer Daniel Gerdts won an acquittal in federal court in Minneapolis last month for a New York computer consultant who had been accused of bringing child pornography into the United States on his way back from a business trip to Asia.
The defendant, who worked for a Japanese producer of adult videos, said he was hired to set up Web pages to market the videos and to search the Internet for pirated copies. He conceded he might have inadvertently downloaded child porn in the process of doing his job.
In court, Gerdts said prosecutors had failed to exercise proper discretion in bringing the charges. During his closing argument to the jury, he suggested a reason, alluding to published reports of upheaval in the office since Rachel Paulose had become U.S. attorney in 2006.
Paulose is believed to have gotten the posting with the help of Monica M. Goodling, a former Gonzales aide who recently testified under a grant of immunity from prosecution that she "crossed a line" by improperly allowing politics to influence hiring decisions at the Justice Department. Several senior prosecutors in the Minneapolis office resigned their management posts to protest Paulose's leadership.
The effect of Gerdts' courtroom remark was unclear. Government lawyers objected, and the judge told jurors to ignore the comment.
After the verdict, jurors said they did not believe the government's accusation that the defendant had intentionally downloaded contraband files.
In Springfield, Mo., defense lawyers are seeking a court order for evidence of improper contacts between former interim U.S. Atty. Bradley J. Schlozman and former Bush administration official Asa Hutchinson about the indictment last year of a company known as Managed Subcontractors.
