Home > Blog > Archives > 2006 > March > 06 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USLawyer 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.
Permalink | | Categories: Bill Campbell trial
