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DEL.ICIO.USDefense attacks credibility of government witnesses
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Defense attorney Billy Martin opened the defense’s closing argument telling the jury the government has not proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt, and if there were a movie title suited to their investigation and prosecution of the former mayor, it’s “Kill Bill.”
He said the government has interviewed hundreds of witnesses and spent millions of dollars investigating Campbell. “Why did they go after him?” asked Martin. “Because he was the mayor.”
He asked jurors: “When was the last time the IRS went through your grocery bills?”
Martin reminded jurors that Andrew Young - whom he described as a “hero in America” - testified for Campbell and recalled from the stand how Campbell, as a 7-year-old child, had integrated public schools in Raleigh, N.C., and that should be his legacy, and his mayorship, not the way the prosecution has portrayed him, as a gambler who took bribes and had girlfriends.
“They hope to make you so mad at Bill Campbell that you will lose sight of justice,” said Martin.
He attacked the prosecution’s key witnesses - Dan DeBardelaben, and Dewey Clark - who were the only two to testify they gave Campbell bribes, saying they could not be believed.
He said Dewey Clark was like the Memphis pimp in the movie “Hustle & Flow” who took advantage of Campbell. He said that Campbell let Clark live in the basement of his Inman Park home out of “the kindness of his heart.”
He said that Clark’s claim that he gave Campbell about $50,000 in bribes was a lie, that Clark kept the money himself.
“There was no agreement between Michael Childs and the mayor, “ he said. “If there was, they would have brought him [Childs] in” to the courtroom to testify, which they did not.
The defense attacked the government’s claims that Campbell had so much cash because he took bribes, saying that Campbell’s cash life was fueled by his gambling winnings, and reminded the jury that witness Gabe Pascarella estimated Campbell won as much as $20,000 a year gambling.
Martin said if the jury discounted the thousands of dollars the government alleges that Campbell took as bribes, that Campbell’s unreported income is hardly criminal. “Bill Campbell has tried to do the right thing with his taxes, “ he said. “He’s a horrible record keeper. Criminal tax laws do not punish you for making a mistake. … He’s not hiding his income and he’s not avoiding his taxes.”
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