Late News: Federal appeals court upholds Scrushy’s conviction in fraud

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta upheld the conviction of Richard Scrushy, the former chief executive officer of rehabilitation-services provider HealthSouth Corp., on bribery, mail fraud and conspiracy charges. He was convicted based on allegations that Scrushy and former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman engaged in a corrupt agreement in which Scrushy gave Siegelman $500,000 in exchange for the former governor appointing Scrushy to Alabama’s certificate-of-need review board. Before their trial, both men filed motions alleging that the Middle District of Alabama committed substantial violations in its juror selection that resulted in juries that were underrepresented by African-Americans, according to the court’s 68-page opinion. The court denied those challenges, and the defendants subsequently appealed that denial. “Defendants’ claims regarding the Middle District of Alabama’s jury selection procedures are without merit,” a panel of three judges wrote in the appellate court’s opinion on March 6, “and do not entitle them to any relief.”