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Did Coleman attorney ‘concede defeat’ or ‘eye appeal’?

By Paul Schmelzer | 03.20.09 | 2:41 pm

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Thursday’s statement by Norm Coleman attorney Joe Friedberg has generated plenty of interest at local blogs and national news sites alike, mainly for his opinion that…

Coleman attorney Joe Friedberg: We’ll lose this round

By Chris Steller | 03.19.09 | 11:58 pm

Joe Friedberg, the star attorney who gave the closing arguments for Norm Coleman last week in Minnesota’s Senate trial, predicts his client won’t prevail in the election contest without appealing to the state Supreme Court.

Coleman can’t win for losing: Peek at crib sheets gets witness’ testimony stricken

By Chris Steller | 02.25.09 | 7:22 pm

Testimony from a witness for Norm Coleman was stricken from the court record today when the three judges in Minnesota’s election contest trial agreed with Al Franken’s side that Coleman lawyers should not have shared notes with her during a…

Another day, another Minnesotan: Both Klobuchar and Pawlenty visit Maddow

By Chris Steller | 02.18.09 | 11:50 am

pawlenty-maddow-klobuchar-princeAnd on the fourth day they rested? Minnesota’s top two elected officials spent the last three days talking economic stimulus on the airwaves and cable lines of two supposed bastions of liberal media, MSNBC and National Public Radio. Sen.…

Video: Coleman and Franken tell court which rejected ballots to count

By Chris Steller | 02.12.09 | 1:01 pm

The Minnesota senate election contest trial could take a turn today, and you can watch it here live (via The UpTake) starting at 1 p.m. Central Time. Lawyers for Norm Coleman and Al Franken will make their pitches for…

Sweethearts’ murmurs give way to spat over who made senate trial so boring

By Chris Steller | 02.09.09 | 12:24 pm

At first Valentine’s Day seemed to have come early as Week 3 began in Minnesota’s election contest trial between Al Franken and Norm Coleman. The former senator’s lawyers started the day by calling two husband-and-wife pairs of absentee voters to the witness stand whose ballots had been rejected for improper witnessing. Then Franken attorney David Lillehaug rose to make a major objection: Coleman’s side has not answered the Franken side’s questions about the evidence they’re going to present, as the court has ordered them to do.

Coleman drops challenge to Maplewood ballots

By Paul Demko | 01.29.09 | 12:44 pm

The 171 Maplewood ballots are off the table in the U.S. Senate contest. These ballots were discovered by local election officials in a voting machine during the manual recount and added to the vote tally. Norm Coleman’s legal team initially argued that they should not have been included in the recount, but this morning they withdrew their objection to the contested ballots.

Gelbmann’s grilling by hotshot Friedberg ends after four hours in Senate trial

By Chris Steller | 01.28.09 | 11:25 am

After taking a folksy turn Tuesday with testimony from frustrated voters, Norm Coleman’s legal team began to deliver on the tedium it promised in the trial sparked by Coleman’s election-contest lawsuit. The folksy quotient remained high, however,…

Franken-Coleman trial upended by judges’ ruling

By Paul Demko | 01.27.09 | 10:05 am

The trial to determine the outcome of the U.S. Senate race was slated to start up again at 9 a.m. this morning. But the proceedings have been delayed by a significant snag.
Yesterday the three-judge panel hearing the case…

The end is near: Coleman-Franken trial commences

By Paul Demko | 01.26.09 | 4:07 pm

This is the end. Or so it would seem. More than two months after election day, following a manual statewide recount, a trial to determine the winner of the U.S. Senate contest commenced at the Minnesota Supreme Court this afternoon. Norm Coleman is seeking to have the results certified by the state Canvassing Board, showing Al Franken with a 225-vote lead, tossed out. Franken wants to head to Washington.