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Expect Duffy to beat some — but not all — 31 charges

OTTAWA – Did he do it? And if he did do it, will he go to jail?

Sen. Mike Duffy — and the rest of the country — gets the answer to that first question in an Ottawa courtroom Thursday morning.

And many of those who sat through all or most of the 62 days of testimony that started last spring think there’s a better-than-good chance the ol’ Duff is going to be found guilty on at least a few of the 31 charges he faces for fraud, breach of trust and bribery.

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“I think he’s in the most trouble on the Donohue set of charges,” said Michael Spratt, an Ottawa-based criminal lawyer who, like much of the legal community in the nation’s capital, has kept a close eye on the trial.

The Crown alleges Duffy went to Gerald Donohue, an old friend from Duffy’s days as a political journalist for CTV, gave him $65,000 of Senate funds as a “contractor” and then had Donohue dish out money to various people on Duffy’s orders. The payouts, the Crown contends, were for things like a personal trainer that Duffy knew wouldn’t pass muster by the Senate’s accountants.

“He ran everything else through the normal course of business. Why did he have to run some through Donohue?,” Spratt said.

Read David Atkin‘s full Story: Toronto Sun

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