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DEL.ICIO.USWitness email: ‘I hope Campbell fries’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Testimony got a little strange Wednesday morning in the federal corruption trial of former Atlanta mayor Bill Campbell when defense attorney Fred Orr asked prosecution witness Cary Ichter about an email that Ichter sent Orr last weekend.
Ichter, an old friend of Orr and a fellow lawyer, was on the stand testifying about a $40,000 legal bill his law firm had trouble collecting from the Campbell campaign. He testified that Steve Labovitz, the treasurer of Mayor Bill Campbell’s 1997 re-election campaign, told him that the campaign didn’t have the money to pay the bill.
Prosecutors allege that, at the time, Campbell’s campaign had about $100,000. And, by claiming it did not have the money, it was fraud. Defense attorneys claim it was just a matter of an overdue bill not being paid, and did not break the law and is not part of the indictment against Campbell.
Campbell is accused of taking bribes, violating campaign contribution laws, filing false tax returns, and running Atlanta City Hall as a criminal enterprise.
On cross-examination, Orr asked Ichter about their exchange of emails last weekend. Orr said that he sent Ichter an email telling Ichter what it was like working as Campbell’s defense attorney, that the trial was long and tiring and would probably last another three or four weeks.
Ichter testified that he emailed Orr this reply: “I wish you personal luck, but I hope Campbell fries.�
Campbell’s team of attorneys had tried to keep Ichter from taking the stand and argued for 30 minutes, with the jury out of the room, that his testimony was not relevant to the government’s case against the 52-year-old former mayor.
In earlier testimony, witnesses have said that Campbell continued to raise money for his campaign fund in 1998 and 1999 even though he was not eligible to run for mayor again, and the campaign funds were used for non-campaign expenses, such as trips to Disney World.
“This is about fraud,â€? said Assistant U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates. “And that’s part of our case.â€?
Orr argued that Ichter’s email betrayed “not only a personal bias, but it shows an incredible personal biasâ€? against Campbell and, for that reason, he shouldn’t be allowed to testify.
U.S. District Judge Richard story ruled he would allow Ichter to take the stand and Orr could ask him about the email. Defense attorney Jerry Froelich objected: “To allow this evidence in, I don’t think my client can get a fair trial.â€?
Story responded that he understood the objection and would keep it in mind and perhaps reconsider it later: “If I decide it’s a mistrial, I want a month vacation before we came back.â€?
Attorneys laughed - but not much.
After Ichter took the stand and testified about his email, Yates asked him why he had such an opinion of the mayor and the trial. His response for the first time during the five-week trial allowed the jury to hear about media coverage of the case.
Ichter said he had formed his opinon of the trial and Campbell from what he read in “the papers.â€? The defense objected. But Story allowed the lawyer to finish his answer, elaborating that he was a “citizen of the cityâ€? and “I hope that he is convicted because I am an officer of the court, and I think that’s the right outcome.â€?
Orr then asked if he believed that Campbell is presumed innocent until proven guilty by evidence introduced in his trial. The fellow attorney said yes, he did believe that. Then Ichter was dismissed as a witness.
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