At 11:06 PM 9/26/2003 -0400, Joel Benjamin wrote:

I would have to say that Rich Jackson is the biggest loser in the whole
affair. He appeared in Mobile as a potential rebuttal witness for the
prosecution (I don't think he was called to testify in the end). Sherzer
brought down fifteen friends as potential character witnesses, most of whom
were not permitted to testify. The only person the Feds could find who had
a bad word for Sherzer was Rich Jackson, who actually barely knows Alex
personally.

Joel


Very interesting. Is this Rich Jackson the scholastic tournament
organizer by that name?

If he is the same person, and it seems likely that he is, I feel that
he should be blacklisted by the USCF. A chess player who tries to put
a fellow chess player in prison by testifying as a "character witness"
should not be allowed to be part of the chess community.

Remember that a character witness must appear voluntarily. He cannot
be made subject to a subpoena.

Sam Sloan