Maybe some of our lawyers can help me out here, but it seems to me that with such a long lead time, the odds that the case collapsing before trial or Libby securing an acquittal just grew exponentially. Collapse: Because the discovery process will be so long and full of classified twists and turns that prosecutor Fitzgerald may have no choice but to withdraw his case. Acquittal: Because the more distant the trial is from the June-July 2003 events that led to the indictments, the easier it will be for Libby to argue convincingly that he couldn’t possibly remember whom he talked to and when. Even though Libby will be making that argument in relation to testimony taken a year after the events, the time gap for the jury will help make his case.