Conrad Black could hear his fate within a month

Conrad Black, out on bail in the States pending an appeal hearing of the fraud charges that got him sent to jail in 2008, could have just a month to wait for a decision. The US federal court hearing his appeal has asked lawyers to submit written briefs by August 16. Because the three appellate judges are not expected to hear oral arguments, they could issue their ruling any time afterwards.

The panel is led by Judge Richard Posner, who in 2008 rejected Black's first appeal, describing some of his lawyers' arguments as "ridiculous" and saying that there was compelling evidence of a "conventional fraud".

But that was before the US Supreme Court recently narrowed the definition of the fraud statute and ruled that the jury that heard the Black case in Chicago in 2007 received improper instructions.

Many legal experts now believe the fraud charges will be reversed but that the conviction for obstruction of justice - relating to Black's removal of various boxes from his Toronto office, caught on CCTV - will stand.

However, it is likely the former Daily Telegraph proprietor's lawyers will successfully argue that the 28 months he has already served in a Florida prison is adequate punishment and he will finally be free to return home to Toronto.

Read a full report at the Globe and Mail ·