In the jury selection phase, before Collins name came out, he was identified as having worked with Bob Woodward at the Post and being a neighbor of NBC’s Tim Russert. Both would later testify in the case.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003554336

Why put him on the jury?

“demolished”.
not a minor MsM dig at the blogosphere.
guees we’re not intended to “participate”
in democracy.
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“The jurors focused with great intensity on the facts as stated by Fitzgerald and largely disregarded much-discussed questions of whether there was any cover-up of the leak and, if so, whether Cheney orchestrated it, Collins said.”

ahhhh!…so *Cheney* put Armitage out there to start the whispering campaign,eh?
or maybe *Rove* pulls Armitage’s strings??
funny how Joe Wilson never did,nor has,expressed the desire to see Armitage “frog-marched”…despite his having been the original leaker.
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“In certain circumstances, it is a crime to disclose the identity of a covert CIA operative, and whether Plame‚Äôs identity was, in fact, classified was argued at great length during the trial.”

“whether Plame‚Äôs identity was, in fact, classified …..was argued at great length during the trial.”

this is _vague_ prose,possibly intentional.

the judge’s instructions were to exclude Plame’s CIA status from jury deliberations.

the only way this would not be a violation of the judge’s instructions is if the
WaPo author is conflating public chatter with what went on in the jury room.

AFAIK, Plame’s status was not the focus of the trial or the
defense or prosecution’s arguements.

IOW: editorializing,not reporting.

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“He[Collins] sounds
as though he has been coached.”

he’s a little too convenient.