Lawyer says Black’s partner is to blame

Conrad Black’s attorney accused prosecutors Tuesday of trying to prejudice jurors against the fallen media mogul by focusing on his affluent lifestyle while basing their racketeering and fraud case on the word of a former business partner he described as “a proven liar.”

“David Radler is all they’ve got,” attorney Edward L. Greenspan said as he launched his closing argument on behalf of the Canadian-born press lord. “The government doesn’t have a smoking gun because there isn’t one.”

Radler was Black’s partner for decades as they built the $1-billion Hollinger International newspaper empire but has now pleaded guilty and agreed to be the government’s star witness in return for a light sentence.

Greenspan said Radler, who was expected to get a 29-month sentence in return for his cooperation, lied to prosecutors before pleading guilty and lied again on the witness stand to make sure that he got the deal.

Greenspan said the prosecutors also focused on Black’s “champagne and caviar and oriental rugs” to bias the middle-class jury against the former chief executive of Hollinger International, whose love of the good life was well-known.

He urged jurors to “treat and judge Conrad Black the way you treat any of your neighbors.”

Black, former Hollinger Vice Presidents John Boultbee and Peter Atkinson and former corporate counsel Mark Kipnis are charged with stealing more than $60 million that belonged to Hollinger shareholders.

Beginning in 1998, the company began selling off community newspapers across the U.S. and Canada. Millions of dollars were paid as part of the deal to keep Hollinger from competing with the new owners.

While most of the money went to Hollinger, a substantial portion went to Black, Radler, Boultbee and Atkinson. Prosecutors say the money was rightfully the shareholders’ property and essentially was stolen.

Greenspan scoffed at the idea that Black was even involved in arranging the so-called noncompete payments and said Radler made most of the deals.

“The government wants you to believe that David Radler didn’t make a major decision without Conrad Black. The fact is he did,” Greenspan said.

U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve has indicated that jury deliberations in the 14-week trial could begin next week.