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DEL.ICIO.USCampbell judge denies mistrial request
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bill Campbell’s defense team asked for a mistrial today in his federal corruption case after a former city councilman testified “scandals had been exposed� while Campbell was mayor.
U.S. District Judge Richard Story denied the mistrial request from defense attorney Jerry Froelich, but the judge also chided the witness, former Councilman Lee Morris, for referring to scandals during his testimony.
“I don’t need to have off-handed comments throw us into a mistrial situation and have to go back and start this process all over� Story said.
Before Morris took the stand, the defense argued with federal prosecutors over allowing the testimony since Morris was a frequent critic of Campbell’s while he was on the City Council.
Campbell’s attorney strongly objected to any evidence regarding the power struggles on the Atlanta City Council, which had final approval over city contracts. The prosecution has been attempting to establish all week that Campbell was often personally involved with negotiating contracts.
The defense argued that allowing Morris to discuss the relationship between Campbell and council would amount to “litigating politics.â€? “We are getting into politics,â€? Froelich told the judge. He said Morris, who chaired the city’s finance committee for four years before leaving in 2002, often disagreed with Campbell because of the mayor’s support of affirmative action.
Prosecutors, however, said Morris’ testimony was vital in establishing the relationship between the mayor and the City Council so that jurors would understand testimony that will come later dealing with alleged bribes. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sally Yates said politics formed “the backdrop where the corrupt activity occurred.�
In a minor victory for the prosecution, Story ruled he would allow Morris to talk about politics but on a sharply limited bases.
Campbell is accused of using his term as mayor to run a criminal enterprise that included bribery and illegal campaign contributions in exchange for favors, including the awarding contracts to friends. He has pleaded not guilty.
For the brief time on the stand, Morris testified to how some members of the council became concerned after Campbell’s administration was awarding contracts on an emergency basis without involving the council.
One of those agreements, Morris said, involved R&D Testing and Drilling, owned by Campbell friend Ricky Rowe. Without bidding the job, the city gave the contract to R&D to remove contaminated dirt from D.L Stanton Park, which had been built on a landfill.
Morris said the council was concerned because R&D’s specialty was materials testing, not dirt removal.
Morris testified that the emergency contracting process allowed the mayor to make contracts with companies without approval or even knowledge of the contract, and that led the council to push for legislation to change the law “after a couple of scandals within the administration.�
The reference to “scandalsâ€? irked the judge who told Morris, an attorney, that he should know better than to use such explosive terms during testimony. After Story told the jury to ignore Morris’ “scandalâ€? comment and “not consider it testimony,â€? Campbell turned to the defense table and smiled broadly.
While leaving the courthouse after his testimony, Morris told reporters he “would have been horrified� if he had caused a mistrial.
Morris said he often disagreed with Campbell, but not because of his position on affirmative action.
“My testimony was going to be not only did he abuse emergency power but he also disregarded the city charter and city ordinances,” Morris said.
With regard to Rowe’s materials testing company getting a drilling contract, Morris said, “My concern was that we used a drilling and testing company, and we ended up spending $8.4 million” on the Stanton Park cleanup. Rowe died in 2004.
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