Presides Over Iran-Contra Trial
In 1989, Gesell was the presiding judge in the government's case against National Security Adviser Oliver North, who was convicted of aiding and abetting obstruction of a congressional inquiry into the Iran-Contra arms sale. North also was convicted of ordering the destruction of documents and accepting an illegal gratuity. On July 5, 1989, Gesell probated North's three-year prison sentence, but fined him $150,000, sentenced him to 1,200 hours community service and placed him on two years' probation.
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“Every political system is an accumulation of habits, customs, prejudices, and principles that have survived a long process of trial and error and of ceaseless response to changing circumstances. If the system works well on the whole, it is a lucky accident—the luckiest, indeed, that can befall a society.”
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