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DEL.ICIO.USGittens recalls Campbell’s contract orders
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Angela Gittens, the former general manager of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, testified Thursday that Bill Campbell ordered her not to rebid an airport concessions contract some of his friends held with the city.
The prosecution in the former Atlanta mayor’s federal corruption trial is trying to prove that Campbell played favorites with city contractors who bribed him or donated to his political campaigns, legally or illegally.
Shortly after Gittens took the stand, her testimony was interrupted by objections from defense attorneys when the prosecution began asking her about other airport contracts.
With the jury out of the room, defense attorney Jerry Froelich told U. S. District Judge Richard Story that Gittens’ testimony was little more than “innuendoâ€? and had “thrown a skunk in the jury box.â€?
Froleich said prosecutors’ plans to ask Gittens about airport parking and advertising contracts were irrelevant to the case and not part of the indictment against Campbell.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sally Yates argued that Gittens’ testimony is central to the government’s case.
The prosecution is trying to show that contractors who supported Campbell, allegedly with bribes and campaign contributions, were rewarded with lucrative city contracts.
Yates said, however, the government did not contend airport parking and advertising contracts were illegal or that the mayor took bribes from people who got them. Instead, she said, the prosecution wanted Gittens to testify about Campbell’s involvement with city contracts.
“We have to be able to show that he [Campbell] reaches into the contract process to reward people,â€? Yates said.
Judge Story ruled that Gittens could not talk about the parking contracts but could testify about advertising contracts with the city.
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