"The lesson--don't buck the feds, they hold all the cards. Don't complain publicly for egregious violations of the law and misrepresentations by prosecutors. They have long memories and longer blacklists. They stick together and cover each other's tracks. What a shame that Segal did not see that. Perhaps he was so used to winning by dint of hard work and charm, by dint of deep intelligence masked by an easy going manner--he could not conceive of the consequences of calling out prosecutorial misconduct.
Segal built an insurance brokerage that rivaled any in the nation. It took him 40 years to do so. Then he underwent 15 years of hell, ridicule, incarceration, separation from a family that suffered as much as he did. Possley's book is a meticulously researched account of the fall of a business titan. He has examined the workings of our criminal justice system for years. He writes with passion but above all insight. Some might complain about the detailed account of so many adverse rulings over so many years in courts-- but lawyers won't.
Was his defense mishandled? Were adverse witnesses coerced and self-interested witnesses coddled and defended--protected from civil and criminal wrongs of their own? I found it shocking. I suggest reading it yourself. Make your own judgment on the facts presented. I think you will find that human failings--whether prosecutors or defendants--paint a bleak picture but one worth understanding. The laws made in legislatures and courts must still be implemented--and suffered--because implementation is the work of human beings."
