Why The Jody Owens Case Isn’t The John DeLorean Case

On today’s show, I explained why the federal bribery sting case involving Hinds County DA Jody Owens is very different from the famous John DeLorean FBI sting case, even though both involved undercover operations, recordings, and entrapment arguments. The biggest difference? In the DeLorean case, the government looked like it was dragging a financially desperate businessman into a crime that would not have existed without them. In the Owens case, prosecutors are going to argue the recordings show somebody who already understood exactly how political bribery worked long before the FBI showed up. That distinction is the entire ballgame in federal court.