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Monday, March 18, 2024 | Back issues
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Manafort Told He’ll Wear Prison Jumpsuit for Hearing

Paul Manafort must stay in his prison-issued jumpsuit for any future hearings that he attends, according to an order issued by a federal judge on Wednesday.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (CN) – Paul Manafort must stay in his prison-issued jumpsuit for any future hearings that he attends, according to an order issued by a federal judge on Wednesday.

A day earlier, Manafort’s attorney Kevin Downing asked U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III, to allow the former Trump campaign chairman the chance to  wear a formal business suit for his court hearings.

But in a brief order filed Wednesday, Ellis, the same judge who presided over Manafort’s bank and tax fraud trial in August, said the “defendant should be treated no differently from other defendants who are in custody post-conviction.”

“As a matter of course,” Ellis explained, any defendant who is held in custody after a conviction is prohibited from appearing in court in “street clothing.”

In the Eastern District of Virginia, the prison-issued jumpsuits are not the bright orange variety that one might typically think of – instead, they are dark green.

Ahead of his trial in Alexandria, Virginia this summer, Manafort was seen in the green prison-issued jumpsuit on only a few occasions.

During his trial, the former lobbyist only appeared in formal suit and tie, his collars appearing to be starched and his suit jackets neatly pressed.

On Friday, prosecutors are expected to announce whether they will pursue a retrial for 10 deadlocked counts jurors were unable to decide after a 12 trial days and four days of deliberations.

Manafort was found guilty on eight counts, including bank fraud, falsifying income on his tax returns and failing to file reports of foreign bank accounts.

In related news, attorney Kyle Freeny, a member of the team that prosecuted Manafort in August, has filed her notice of withdrawal from the case.

Freeny will return to her position within the money laundering division of the Justice Department, according to the special counsel’s office.

The special counsel’s team will continue to shrink as it winds down aspects of its broader probe.

Categories / Criminal, Government, National, Politics

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