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Monday, March 6, 2006
Campbell says he won’t testify
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bill Campbell said this afternoon he would not testify in his own defense.
U.S. District Judge Richard Story pressed the former Atlanta mayor for a decision today so he could determine scheduling for the last phase of the federal corruption trial.
After dismissing the jury around noon, Story had given Campbell until the lunch break ended around 2 to make his decision. Asked by Story this afternoon whether would to testify, Campbell first responded, “I would actually like a little bit more time” to decide.
Story said he could have a few minutes to consult his lawyers, but Campbell instead responded, “Your honor, it is my inclination not to testify.”
Barring a change of heart by Campbell, the last defense witness could be IRS Special Agent Bill Salinski, who will take the stand tomorrow morning. Then prosecutors are expected to call rebuttal witnesses. Closing arguments by both sides could be later this week.
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Will Campbell testify? Decision today
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Will Bill Campbell testify in his own defense?
That question may be answered this afternoon and Campbell — facing federal charges for racketeering, bribery, and tax evasion — could take the stand as early as tomorrow if the defense puts him on the stand.
U.S. District Judge Richard Story dismissed the jury around noon and asked them to return Tuesday while prosecution and defense attorneys make declarations and argue over the final defense witnesses.
Story said, with the jury out of the room, “Mr. Campbell, I will be asking you to make an election whether your are going to testify, when we return” at 2 o’clock, after the lunch break.”
Campbell has said repeatedly he wants to testify. He has never said flatly he will testify.
If Campbell does not testify, the last defense witness may be IRS Special Agent Bill Salinski, who will take the stand Tuesday morning. Then prosecutors are expected to call rebuttal witnesses. Closing arguments by both sides could be later this week.
In earlier testimony, attorney Michael Coleman testified today that his client and longtime personal friend Bill Campbell would never accept a bribe.
Coleman, who is Campbell’s personal attorney and not part of the defense team, also told jurors that the former mayor and Campbell’s campaign treasurer, Steve Labovitz, took steps to make sure campaign funds were spent appropriately.
Labovitz “was very concerned he was doing things in compliance with the law,” Coleman told jurors.
This is the seventh week of Campbell’s public corruption trial and the second week for his side to call witnesses.
Prosecutors allege that Campbell solicited bribes from city contractors, funneled the money into his campaign warchest and then misused the money to pay for gambling trips with buddies and hotel stays with girlfriends.
Campbell acknowledges there was corruption in his administration but blames a few of his underlings for abusing his trust – and his name — by soliciting and keeping the bribes themselves. He insists he is innocent.
Coleman testified that he has never known the mayor to accept a bribe from mayoral aide Dewey Clark, an admitted bagman, strip club owner Michael Childs or anyone else.
Clark and the mayor’s former secretary, Serena Skaggs, testified earlier about alleged bribes Childs gave the mayor in exchange for a liquor license to open up a new strip club Strawberries and renew the liquor license for another controversial club. Clark told jurors the mayor took the bribe, about $50,000, but later caved to political pressure to not grant the licenses.
Skaggs testified that while working at City Hall, she overheard a conversation between Clark and Campbell in the kitchen suite next to the mayor’s office.
Skaggs, a soft-spoken single mother, said she overheard Clark tell Campbell: “You know you took that boy’s [Childs’] money.” To which she said Campbell responded, “Technically, I didn’t; you did.”
Skaggs said she initially balked at talking with FBI agents for fear the mayor would fire her.
But Coleman testified Skaggs told him she never heard the conversation. “She indicated she had not overheard any argument,” Coleman said.
Coleman also was the second defense witness to testify that Campbell didn’t sign a lucrative water deal for a contractor who prosecutors claim paid off the mayor.
Prosecutors say Campbell extended the contract of United Water just days before he left office in December 2001, and then publicly denied “knowingly” signing the deal, worth about $80 million.
Prosecutors claim United Water, which had a contract to manage Atlanta’s water system, footed the $12,000 bill when Campbell took a female companion on a four-day trip to Paris in July 1999.
But defense witness Eunice Lockhart-Moss, the mayor’s special assistant, told jurors Campbell refused to sign the United Water documents before he left office in December 2001 and he never saw them until six months later.
Coleman said it was his idea to advise the mayor to say he didn’t “knowingly” sign the papers instead of issuing an outright denial.
“He was adamant he had not signed them,” the lawyer told jurors.
Coleman said he decided to play it safe in case someone slipped the contract in the mayor’s stack of papers as the mayor was preparing to leave office.
Coleman said he tried to get a copy of the United Water documents from city officials but no one could find a copy. The defense claims the mayor’s chief operating officer, DeWayne Martin, forged the mayor’s signature and didn’t leave a copy at City Hall.
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Lawyer insists Campbell wouldn’t take a bribe
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell’s longtime friend and personal attorney testified for the defense today that Campbell would never take a bribe.
Michael Coleman was first person on the witness stand, Testimony began late today, starting at 10:30 a.m. instead of its normal 9 a.m. start.
Coleman, who said he has known Campbell for 25 years, also testified Campbell told him he never signed papers granting United Water a multimillion-dollar extension of a city water management contract. Prosecutors have accused Campbell of awarding contracts in exchange for payoffs. Prosecutors say United Water funded a trip to Paris that the mayor took with a female companion in 1997. The company later received the contract extention.
Campbell’s defense team, however, argued that Campbell never signed the documents and presented witnesses who said another staffer signed the papers.
Campbell himself has said he did not “knowingly” sign the papers. He has said he lacked authority to grant such a payment without council approval. In an October 2002 statement, he said he never saw the papers and wouldn’t have signed them if he had.
Last year, the city severed its operating agreement with United Water.
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