What if, good grief, Conrad Black wins and comes BACK?!

It is beginning to dawn on some that Conrad Black may be acquitted at his Chicago trial, and then what? A story by Susan Chandler in the Chicago Tribune speculates on what would happen if Lord Black were to return to the Sun-Times group:

It's the worst nightmare for executives at Sun-Times Media Group Inc.: Conrad Black, the company's former chief executive, is acquitted of criminal charges and regains his position as the company's controlling shareholder.

Black once again fills the board with his associates, fires executives who deserted him during his darkest hour and perhaps seeks to be reinstated as CEO. Even if he didn't go that far, Black would still wield veto power over major transactions, such as the sale of the company.

Considering that Black is accused of systematically looting the company, formerly known as Hollinger International Inc., and has a well-deserved reputation for seeking retribution, he is not exactly the kind of guy Sun-Times management wants to bring back into the fold. And for good reason.

"That company is a mess from a corporate governance point of view," said Peter Henning, a law professor at Wayne State University who has been following Black's trial. "If he is found not guilty, it will be an even bigger mess."

Black sees it quite differently. He has declared his innocence from the beginning and believes he ultimately may prove to be the Sun-Times Media Group's only possible savior.

"As I have said before, without our judicial success there is no hope that the shareholders, who have been so severely damaged since we left, will not see their interests exterminated completely," Black said in a recent e-mail message as his criminal trial stretched into its 14th week.