Law: We Just Plain Licked 'Em'

After a long trial, the jury lets Bert Lance go

The trial was as meandering as the Suwannee River. For 16 weeks, lawyers argued their cases before Atlanta Judge Charles A. Moye Jr.—with the help of courtroom bombast, some 20,000 documents and 173 witnesses, including testimonials from luminaries like Lillian Carter. Finally, after mulling over the evidence for eight days, the jurors last week reached a verdict. They found former Budget Director Bert Lance not guilty on nine counts of bank fraud, but deadlocked on three other counts of banking violations. As the jurors...