Lawyers Appeal Dimasi Conviction

An appeal has been filed by former Speaker of the House Sal DiMasi’s lawyers to hopefully overturn the life-long North End resident’s conviction or corruption chargers.

Last week in a petition, reportedly 100 pages long, DiMasi’s lawyers argued that the U.S. District Court Judge failed to properly explain to jurors the definition of corruption laws.

Apparently, jurors should have been properly instructed that the prosecutors had to prove that DiMasi knowingly agreed to accept payments in exchange for helping a company win state contracts.

Reportedly, the government’s case rested on circumstantial evidence, lawyers wrote in the appeal. They also argued that U.S. District Court Chief Justice Mark L. Wolf failed to explain to jurors that under state law, politicians could accept certain gifts, but the gifts do not necessarily translate to bribes.

At this time it is not known when or if the appeal will be dealt with.