An Ohio politician who was ensnared in an FBI “sting” wants his two corruption-related convictions thrown out—a challenge that ought to prevail, says a legal scholar who has followed the case closely.
Lawyers for Alexander “P.G.” Sittenfeld, a former Cincinnati city councilman who was convicted of bribery and attempted extortion this summer, filed motions for acquittal and a new trial on Sept. 30 in the U.S. District Court in Cincinnati.
Ken Katkin, professor of law at Northern Kentucky University. (Courtesy of Northern Kentucky University Chase School of Law)
While such post-trial motions are common, they rarely succeed. But Ken Katkin, a professor of law at Northern Kentucky University near Cincinnati, opined that Sittenfeld’s main argument is valid….