His wife was crying, his attorney was elated and John Christmas, ex-special assistant to Mayor Street's chief of staff, was thrilled.
That was the the reaction yesterday when U.S. District Judge Bruce A. Kauffman acquitted Christmas, 40, of the last count against him – lying to the grand jury about conversations with Muslim cleric Shamsud-din Ali regarding the delinquent-real-estate-tax settlement of Bowman Properties."Every now and then something decent happens to a good guy," said Brian McMonagle, attorney for Christmas, who was acquitted on Tuesday, after an eight-week trial, of conspiracy and mail fraud.
"There is simply insufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant was lying when he stated that he could not remember additional information with Ali," wrote Kauffman.
"The government has offered, at best, weak circumstantial evidence of the defendant's state of mind," he added.
Christmas was questioned about conversations that occurred two years earlier, and there was no evidence that his recollection was refreshed prior or during his appearance before the grand jury, the judge wrote. *