Federal Defense Attorney John Teakell

The former attorney for assisted suicide doctor Jack “Dr. Death” Kevorkian has been acquitted of federal charges for violating campaign-finance laws. On June 2, 2008, after an eighteen day trial and nearly twenty hours of deliberation, a federal jury found Detroit attorney Geoffrey Fieger not guilty on all ten counts. Fieger’s law partner, Ven Johnson, was also acquitted on all counts.

Ignorance of the Law is an Excuse

The indictment against Fieger and Johnson was based on federal prosecutor’s accusations that both men had illegally funneled $127,000 to fellow Democrat John Edwards’ 2004 presidential campaign. Prosecutors said Fieger and Johnson would recruit employees and others to make contributions for which they later were reimbursed.

The campaign finance law 2 U.S.C. § 441 (f) reads:

No person shall make a contribution in the name of another person or knowingly permit his name to be used to effect such a contribution, and no person shall knowingly accept a contribution made by one person in the name of another person.

Defense attorneys continuously asserted to the jury that their clients did not “knowingly” violate the statute. Although defense attorneys admitted that contributors were reimbursed, they argued to the jury that the pair did not know it was illegal.

Fieger testified at trial that that he and Johnson had no idea they were breaking the law when they recruited 64 people to contribute the funds to John Edwards’ 2004 presidential campaign and reimbursed them with law firm funds. Fieger also testified he researched the law before authorizing the campaign donation reimbursements and concluded that to do so was legal.

Politically Motivated?

Fieger concluded his testimony with a description of a November 30, 2005, raid which was conducted by more than 80 FBI and Internal Revenue Service agents. According to Fieger, the agents “terrorized” his employees and called attention to the raid by alerting local television stations, which he described as politically motivated “thuggery.”

Fieger, a 1998 Democratic candidate for governor, believed that he and Johnson were targeted because of their outspokenness of the Republican Party. After the verdict Fieger spoke, “I hope this puts an end to political prosecution in the age of Mr. Bush.”

Likewise, Johnson also expressed his suspicions that the government was politically motivated in the prosecution of the case. “I think this verdict sends a loud message to the Department of Justice that we know what’s going on … That it is prosecuting personal injury plaintiffs’ attorneys because we support Democrats.”

After the trial, a number of jurors told reporters that they also felt the charges were politically motivated and that federal prosecutors were not able to prove their case. Some said they were convinced Fieger and Johnson were targeted by the Republican-run Justice Department.

Assistant United States Attorney Lynn Helland, who headed the case for the government, disputed claims that the Justice Department targeted Fieger and Johnson. “This was not in the least a politically motivated prosecution,” Helland said. “The case was handled from the beginning by line level attorneys working with line level discretion and established guidelines. The judge found there was no evidence of improper prosecution,” Helland reiterated after the verdict.