Rowland Pleads Not Guilty; Lawyer Promises He Will Be 'Fully Vindicated'
Source: Hartford Courant
By EDMUND H. MAHONY and JON LENDER, emahony@courant.com
The Hartford Courant
8:08 p.m. EDT, April 11, 2014
NEW HAVEN — John G. Rowland pleaded not guilty Friday to seven campaign fraud charges for which he was indicted a day earlier, and his lawyer promised an aggressive defense that will leave Connecticut's previously convicted, three-term governor "fully vindicated."
Rowland was subdued at U.S. District Court and so soft-spoken that he could hardly be heard at times during a 9-minute hearing Friday afternoon — a routine proceeding required after an indictment.
He answered, "Yes, Your Honor," to a series of questions from Senior U.S. District Judge Ellen Bree Burns to determine whether Rowland understood his rights, the charges against him and the consequences of conviction — potentially years in prison.
It was a low-key performance for the wise-cracking ex-governor. In contrast, his new lawyer, Reid Weingarten of Washington, D.C., seemed impatient to mix things up with Rowland's federal prosecutors.
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The Hartford Courant (now a conservative publication) editorial headline is: "How could he do it again?"
Indeed, did he think he was invincible? Unbelievable chutzpah!
Read more: http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-rowland-indicted-0413-20140411,0,6361536.story
