The day before, the prosecution's case began to wobble, and a second wave of tremors was rattling the media and political culture, and as we sipped a prelunch aperitif, Ruiz and Sarmiento pressed me for the latest news from New York.
Just a few hours before, another prosecution witness had described a slightly older Mr. Cherry, a man who had left the Klan behind in Alabama in the 1970's and moved to Texas to open a carpet cleaning business -- and brag to relatives about the day in Alabama that he struck a historic blow for white supremacy.
Saunders insisted that the guidelines would not stifle free speech as there was a "high threshold" of offence to victims that had to be crossed before prosecutions were launched.
Tory MP Michael Ellis said: "Do you accept that it is not in the administration of effective justice that there be a seven-year delay before prosecutions are pursued, if prosecutions are going to be pursued...It's a given isn't it?" Mr Graham replied: "Of course it's a given".
Mr. Abdul Majid, who became an informant for the C.I.A. just four months before the bombing, spent only half a day testifying, mostly before the prosecution.
Thirdly, the consent of the Attorney General is required before a prosecution can be brought (section 9(1)).
Mr. Blagojevich's announcement, which came about an hour before the prosecution rested its case, brought negative reactions from lawmakers.
But, at this point, with a only few weeks to go before the prosecution rests its case, it has not, it must seem, stilled all reasonable doubt.
