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DEL.ICIO.USWitness: Payoffs at odds with council vote
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The corruption trial of former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell was briefly halted today after a female juror with health problems became sick and had to be wheeled from the courthouse in a wheelchair. She later returned to the jury.
It’s yet another unexpected incident in a case already full of twists that began even before the jurors who chosen. During jury selection, a man was tossed from the jury pool for reading a newspaper article on the case even though he knew the judge told him not to. Rain and heavy traffic caused some jurors and the judge to be late during the first week of trial. Jurors were stuck inside a stuffy elevator for about 30 minutes Friday, sending two to the infirmary and shutting down the trial three hours early.
And on Monday, former mayoral aide Dewey Clark, a key government witness, broke down several times in shrill uncontrollable sobs as he testified against Campbell, whom he said he still loves. During the testimony, a court security officer escorted an elderly Campbell supporter from the courtroom Monday after her loud scoffs throughout the room and an angry man decided to leave on his own as he mumbled expletives.
U.S. District Judge Richard Story has expressed frustration at the disruptions – and the six-week trial is only in its second week.
The juror became ill today as Clark continued his testimony about what prosecutors contend was Campbell’s abuse of power.
Clark told jurors that Campbell was determined to keep his control over the city policy makers. He had a group of council members who typically voted his way and were dubbed “the nod squad.�
“He told me he had a 7-6 edge on the City Council,� Clark testified.
“He could not afford to lose [then-Councilman] Derrick Boazman’s vote.�
But a problem arose when a strip club owner who gave a kickback to Campbell was at odds with Boazman, Clark testified.
Michael Childs, who owned two strip joints, Club Nikki and Gentleman’s Club, wanted a liquor license to open a third club called Strawberries. Childs was already paying rent on the vacant building and paid thousands to the mayor to push through approval on the liquor license, Clark told jurors.
But Boazman was an avid opponent of Strawberries and didn’t want to renew Childs’ liquor license at Club Nikki after a fatal shooting in 1997 outside the strip club on New Year’s Eve.
The mayor was in a bind. He had promised to reward Childs, who had channeled cash from Childs to Campbell 10 to 12 times in 1997 and 1998, Clark said. The payments were “nothing smaller than $2,500” and up to $10,000, Clark said.
But Campbell didn’t want his power to slip so he ultimately opted to appease Boazman.
Clark testified that the mayor told him: “Tell Michael that if he does not withdraw his application for Strawberries, I’m going to close down Nikki and Gentleman’s. Don’t ‘f’ with me because I am God.â€?
Defense attorney Jerry Froelich has said that Clark can’t be trusted as a witness and likely used the mayor’s name without Campbell’s consent to solicit bribes from various people who wanted to do business with the city.
Froelich is expected to put Clark under fire during cross examination this afternoon.
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