The New York federal judge who presided over Viktor Bout’s November trial has rejected the arms dealer’s push to have his conviction on conspiracy charges overturned. Judge Shira Scheindlin spurned defense arguments that Bout jury’s guilty verdicts were tainted because the jury forewoman had viewed “Lord of War,” a Nicholas Cage action film partly based on Bout’s exploits. The jury member told the judge during Wednesday’s hearing that she wasn’t aware that the film had any links to the case. Bout, who faces a prison term of 25 years to life, will be sentenced next February. He is expected to appeal the verdict to federal appellate courts.
—AP, “A federal judge has rejected requests by lawyers for a Russian arms dealer to conclude that a juror acted inappropriately in convicting him.”
—AFP, “Questioned by Judge Shira Scheindlin over whether she had realized that events chronicled in “Lord of War,” starring Nicolas Cage, bore similarities with Bout’s career, the juror, Heather Hobson, said: “Absolutely not.”
—NYT, “Heather Hobson did not like “Lord of War,” characterizing the film as that “terrible Nicolas Cage movie” in an interview with The New York Times.”