State Attorney's Office: We are appealing Olmert acquittals

State notifies Olmert's legal team that it will be appealing both the verdict and the sentence in his corruption case; if state wins, Olmert could face jail; announcement comes as Olmert mulls political comeback.

By YONAH JEREMY BOB
EHUD OLMERT 370 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
EHUD OLMERT 370
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
The State Attorney's Office announced officially for the first time on Tuesday night that it is appealing the acquittals of former prime minister Ehud Olmert in the Jerusalem District Court corruption case to the Supreme Court.
Ending almost three months of speculation since his acquittals in July, the state notified Olmert's legal team head Eli Zohar that it will be appealing both the verdict and the sentence in the corruption case.
The decision could have tremendous repercussions on the upcoming elections, which Olmert has considered taking part in as a challenger to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
If the state wins at the Supreme Court level, Olmert could be convicted of harsher crimes than he was at trial and even still end up going to jail.
Whether the state wins or not, appealing in the midst of election season, which many will say influenced the state's decision, could have a heavy impact on Olmert's decision as to whether he wants to run or not.
On the other hand, all the legal fundamentals point to the appeal ending in failure and Olmert merely reaping another greater victory over the state.
The primary issues that the state can appeal on are issues of fact, and it is highly unlikely that the Supreme Court will reverse a three panel court including the president and vice president of the Jerusalem District Courts on issues of fact, as opposed to issues of law.
Even as the state announced its intention to appeal, it is still hesitating to announce what its grounds will be or if it will appeal on all of Olmert's acquittals or only particular ones.