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Monday, February 13, 2006
Testimony cites undisclosed speaking fees
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell didn’t initially disclose thousands of dollars he collected from city contractors for speaking engagements, a city clerk testified today.
Campbell later amended his campaign disclosure forms to include a $5,000 speaking fee he received from Sable Communication in 1996 and $10,000 from Oracle Corp. in 1998, Atlanta Municipal Clerk Rhonda Dauphin Johnson testified.
Johnson was first government witness called to the stand today. The order of witness appearances has been revised, with earlier witnesses who had been expected to take the stand being replaced by others.
Campbell, 52, maintains his innocence of federal charges of racketeering, bribery and income tax evasion.
During Campbell’s public corruption trial, his former aide, Dewey Clark testified that the mayor got $5,000 for a brief speech to Sable’s former chief executive, George Greene, and about a dozen of Green’s employees and relatives. During the speech, Campbell said he rewarded loyalty and punished his enemies and would “even drive up on the sidewalk to get them,” Clark testified.
Oracle, a software company with a city contract, paid Campbell $10,000 for a speech in 1998. In 1999, Oracle won a city contract with the potential to eventually earn the company $4.5 million.
Campbell made changes to his financial disclosure forms in 2000 – after the FBI began investigating allegations of corruption at City Hall.
During testimony today, prosecutors also pointed to another omission campaign disclosure forms. Under benefits and gratuities, Campbell listed free tickets to Braves, Falcons and Hawks games and events at Chastain Park and the Civic Center, Johnson testified today as prosecutors showed jurors several enlarged copies of the mayor’s campaign and financial disclosure forms. But the mayor didn’t list $12,000 a city contractor, United Water, paid for what prosecutors say was a romantic getaway for Campbell and a mistress, Marion Brooks.
Prosecutors say Campbell also didn’t list chartered flights to New York and Las Vegas that were paid by a businessman. City contractor Robert Crowder testified last week how he spent thousands of dollars chartering planes for then-Mayor Bill Campbell to gain a business edge.
Crowder, chief executive of construction company Brencor Inc, told jurors he paid $29,000 in 1999 for a jet to fly Campbell to New York and Las Vegas, with a limousine on hand. Defense attorney Jerry Froelich pointed out that the mayor took Crowder to Chops restaurant as a “thank you� and invited Crowder and his wife to sit at a table with Campbell during a Nancy Wilson concert at Chastain Park.
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Prosecutors to call ex-trusted aide
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A former Atlanta city official is expected to testify today against former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell in his federal corruption trial, but defense attorneys several months ago got a head start attacking his credibility.
Campbell’s attorneys went public last fall to reveal that government witness DeWayne Martin admitted in 2002 that he had taken bribes while at City Hall.
Martin, formerly Campbell’s chief of staff and briefly chief operating officer, has been cooperating in the investigation since July 2002, according to a statement he gave the FBI. The statement does not mention whether Martin accepted payoffs on Campbell’s behalf. Defense attorneys released the document to reporters last year.
Martin resigned from his job at an Atlanta law firm.
Once a trusted associate of Campbell’s, Martin worked for eight years with the mayor’s office. During the final weeks of the Campbell administration in November 2001, Martin got involved in negotiations between the city and United Water, which was seeking an $80 million increase in its contract to run the city’s water system.
When then Atlanta Water Commissioner Remedios del Rosario refused to sign off on the increase, Martin called her into his office, she said in a 2002 interview.
“The mayor wants you to sign these documents now,” del Rosario said Martin told her. In the interview, del Rosario said she refused.
Martin has said he, too, was under pressure at the time from Campbell to settle things with United Water. “I felt like I was caught in the middle,” Martin said in another 2002 interview.
Campbell’s signature ended up on documents granting United Water the requested $80 million hike. The documents were discovered months later after Mayor Shirley Franklin took office, triggering an uproar. The city eventually dropped United Water.
During the trial, prosecutors wanted to show jurors newspaper articles that quoted Campbell vehemently denying ever “knowingly” signing the documents giving United Water the $80 million. Defense attorneys objected, and the judge decided not to allow prosecutors to show jurors the articles.
Campbell’s team is now denying the mayor ever signed the documents, and they’re expected to argue today that Martin forged Campbell’s signature.
Despite defense objections, the judge is allowing prosecutors to bring in a handwriting expert, who is also expected to testify today.
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