Black's legal counsel will conduct a very aggressive defense. Key witnesses for the prosecution will be discredited in the eyes of the jury. Tainted by his own admission of guilt, any testimony Radler offers against Black will be rendered suspect, thus leaving him the sacrificial lamb for the legal system.

The prosecution's performance will be erratic, delivering the equivalent of legal non sequiturs. There may be abrupt changes in tactics, technical glitches, grey areas of jurisprudence, and an undue reliance on technology to make portions of their case.

The judge's performance will be rock solid. Critical decisions from the bench will favor the defense rather than the prosecution.

The jury will drown in a tsunami of information the prosecution is unable to properly synthesize or summarize. In the end, the jury will throw up their collective hands and acquit, based on the notion that confusion is the mother of doubt.

Black's personal and professional reputation may take a battering, but neither his lord-of-the-manor manner nor his jet-setting lifestyle are fit subjects for trial. He may have lost power and influence, and perhaps money in the form of financial penalties, but ultimately he will save face in the legal process.

The trial will likely run until sometime shortly after July 19th, at which time the jury will render a verdict of not guilty on the various charges for which Black was indicted.

The astrological data, methodology and reasoning are as follows:

Conrad Black was born 25 August 1944 at 6:00 am EDST (War time) in Montreal, Quebec. His criminal trial for corporate malfeasance commenced on 20 March 2007 at 9:00 am CDST in Chicago, Illinois.

The author is a Vedic astrologer. All planetary positions are calculated in the sidereal zodiac wherein the preferred ayanamsha (precessional adjustment) is that of Lahiri, a widely-accepted standard in India.

Jyotisha (Vedic astrology) typically uses a whole-sign = whole-house framework for chart analysis, although for some applications another house division system identical to Porphyry can be used. Once the ascendant is determined to be in a certain sign (sidereal Leo in Black's case), the first house is considered to encompass the entire sign of Leo. The second house then includes all of Virgo, and so on around the chart. In this sign=house system, there is no such thing as unequal houses or intercepted signs.

Jyotisha uses only the luminaries, the visible planets and the nodes. Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and sundry asteroids are deemed unnecessary.

Black's first house is inordinately powerful. The Sun resides there in its own sign, along with the three natural benefics Mercury, Jupiter and Venus. In Jyotisha, both Mercury and Jupiter acquire directional strength in the first house. Furthermore, Mercury is retrograde, another factor of strength in natal chart analysis. Because Jupiter is combust, it does cause a blemish on Black's luck, and probably explains why he was successfully indicted.

The lord of the 7th house and significator of opponents, Saturn is ordinary (lacking any essential dignity) in the 11th house Gemini.

Jyotisha employs a system of planetary periods called dashas. These are driven by the natal position of the Moon in one of the 27 nakshatras, or what might be loosely called "mansions of the Moon" that form an alternative sort of 27-sign zodiac.

Black is currently running a Venus dasha. Venus rules the 3rd house of "desire, adventure and courage" and the 10th house of "career, karma and social status." Venus is well-placed in the first house where it associates with the ascendant lord Sun and the two benefics Mercury and Jupiter. On closer inspection we find that it is also located in its own nakshatra, further evidence of strength.

Each dasha (major planetary period) is sub-divided into nine bhuktis (sub-periods) for greater specificity in forecasting. Each dasha commences with its own sub-period and then follows a fixed order identical to that of the major planetary periods.

Black is currently running a Moon bhukti. Moon rules the 12th house of "loss and imprisonment" but it occupies the 3rd house of "desire, adventure and courage." The 3rd and the 12th houses are considered troublesome, but when the lord of one is located in the other we get the mathematical equivalent of "a negative number multiplied by another negative equals a positive number", in other words, a reversal of misfortunes. Furthermore, the Moon resides in a nakshatra of Jupiter, the grand benefic who occupies the first house.

On the basis of the above, Jyotisha opines that Black cannot be convicted in this current period. Major transits, solely on the basis of house positions, appear to confirm this. Jupiter (natally aligned with ascendant lord Sun) transits the angular 4th house, aspecting Black's 10th house of social status. Lord of 7th Saturn transits the 12th house, where it signifies trouble, not for Black, but for his opponents.

In the event chart for the trial, sidereal Aries rises, therefore making the whole of that sign the first house. The ascendant signifies Black. Its lord Mars occupies Capricorn where it is exalted, and in the 10th house where it acquires directional strength. The prosecution, signified by the 7th lord Venus has crossed the chart to the 1st house, where it is ordinary and without any essential dignity. No more needs to be said, because when the ascendant lord is far stronger than the 7th lord, we expect Black to prevail over his opponents.

My thanks to my teacher, Hart DeFouw, without whom I could never have understood Jyotisha on my own. Thanks as well to his guru Mantriji, whose tutelage has in turn benefited so many.