Christmas acquitted of last count against him
June 17, 2005

His wife was crying, his attorney was elated and John Christmas,  ex-special assistant to Mayor Street's chief of staff, was  thrilled.

That was the the reaction yesterday when U.S. District Judge  Bruce A. Kauffman acquitted Christmas, 40, of the last count against him -  lying to the grand jury about conversations with Muslim cleric Shamsud-din Ali  regarding the delinquent-real-estate-tax settlement of Bowman  Properties."Every now and then something decent happens to a good guy," said  Brian McMonagle, attorney for Christmas, who was acquitted on Tuesday, after  an eight-week trial, of conspiracy and mail fraud.

"There is simply  insufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to find, beyond a reasonable  doubt, that the defendant was lying when he stated that he could not remember  additional information with Ali," wrote Kauffman.

"The government has  offered, at best, weak circumstantial evidence of the defendant's state of  mind," he added.

Christmas was questioned about conversations that  occurred two years earlier, and there was no evidence that his recollection  was refreshed prior or during his appearance before the grand jury, the judge  wrote. *