The fag-end days for Black et al.

The fag-end days for Black et al.

Now are frayed fag-end days for Conrad Black et al. Having decided to roll together their appellate court applications for bail, the Hollinger three are damned with faint praise. The Canadian Press reports:

James Morton, president of the Ontario Bar Association and a criminal lawyer in Toronto, said Thursday the move was uncommon but “good for Black.”

“I think maybe Black is doing it because the other two probably have a stronger appeal, and it may be that Black is trying to somehow bolster his position by being heard at the same time as them,” he said.

Atkinson and Boultbee, he added, “seem to have been less the beneficiaries of the wrongful acts and more the corporate servants.”

“I could see why Black may want to get closer to them, but I can’t see why they’d want to get closer to Black, unless it’s a cost issue.”

“Somehow bolster?” “A cost issue?” The ironies here are leaden to say the least. It’s like the last three men on a sinking ship grabbing hold of the anchor for buoyancy.

But infamy has its rewards. One of the four Warhol portraits of Black sold for better than expected at Christie’s this week. The proceeds went to compensate, at least indirectly, Ravelston’s creditors, thereby easing his Lordship’s “regret” at the price his investors had to pay for his persecution.

Black sells portrait: Source [The Province]Court says Black and co-defendants can make a joint request for bail: Source [CP]