Supreme Court to hear Black’s appeal

Conrad Black has already completed one long hard year in prison and all legal options for an early release - including one appeals court hearing and the chance for a pardon by President Bush - have so far failed.

But now the disgraced press baron - who was convicted of embezzling more than $6m by a Chicago jury in 2007 - is set to get another chance to bid for his freedom, when his case is heard by the highest court in America.

Black and two of his former executives John Boultbee and Mark Kipnis are to be granted a hearing by the US Supreme Court - an extremely rare opportunity that is given to only 50 or 60 of the 10,000 people who petition for a hearing each year.

If prisoner 18330-424 is successful in overturning his six-and-a-half year sentence, the case could lead to hundreds of white-collar cases being reviewed. The trio - who claim that they did not commit fraud because they did no harm to the company - plan to challenge a controversial legal concept called 'honest services'.

Many US lawyers believe the term, which refers to the level of integrity that shareholders are entitled to expect from company management, is too vague and Black's legal team plans to exploit this.

The 64-year-old peer's lawyer, Miguel Estrada said Black's appeal could prove an important test case: "The Supreme Court most likely took the case because it believes the 'honest services' theory is being misused by the government and it wants to take a proper look at it."

Among those who will be watching closely will be the Enron fraudster Jeffrey Skilling, who is appealing his 24-year sentence on similar grounds. The nine justices of the Supreme Court will consider Black's appeal after October.

The news of Black's new bid for freedom was delivered to him at Florida's Coleman federal prison by his wife, columnist Barbara Amiel. Estrada said: "I understand Lady Black has spoken to him and he's obviously quite happy and elated." ·