An Indiana business owner said he asked to be released from a $5 million contract with DeKalb County after CEO Burrell Ellis asked for a large campaign contribution.
Terry Merrell, the chief financial officer for Merrell Bros. based in Kokomo, Ind., testified Tuesday Ellis asked him to solicit enough people to come up with $25,000 to help retire the debt on his 2012 re-election campaign.
Merrell said he immediately consulted his wife and his business partner and then sent an email to DeKalb asking to be released from the contract to dispose of wastewater sludge.
“I knew in my heart once that was brought up we were done,” Merrell said. “I was frustrated. Scared.
“We had to get … far away from this.”
Ellis is charged with nine counts of extortion, perjury and bribery and is on trial for the second time because the jury last fall could not reach a verdict. Prosecutors say Ellis pressured vendors to give to his campaign and would order contracts withheld or terminated if they did not make a political contribution.
The defense could begin presenting its case as early as Wednesday morning.
A key witness in the case, Kelvin Walton, once head of purchasing and contracts for DeKalb, was called to testify for the sixth time on Tuesday. Walton is important to the prosecution because he agreed to wear a wire during telephone and in-person conversations with Ellis; investigators told him that he, too, could be charged for lying to a special purpose grand jury.
Walton was defiant as he was again questioned by Ellis’ attorney.
The angry exchanges between Walton and defense attorney Craig Gillen frequently led the key government witness to accuse Ellis of lying and demanding that the suspended CEO admit that he has not been truthful.
That led Craig Gillen to ask for a mistrial because Walton had raised the issue of Ellis testifying, which he is not required to do. Judge Courtney Johnson denied his request because, she said, Walton’s “tirade” came in response to Gillen’s questions.
Recordings played so far in the trial have been of conversations of Ellis complaining about vendors not returning his calls seeking campaign contributions and telling Walton to end any further county business with them.
Ellis has said he did not punish vendors for not helping him pay for his campaign but did push to cut them off because they did not return his phone calls. Ellis said vendors still should respond to calls from DeKalb's CEO regardless of the reason for them.
On Tuesday, Gillen and Walton were more combative with each other than in previous testimony, frequently shouting over each other.
When Gillen asked the judge to tell Walton he couldn’t make allegations that Ellis is a liar and he should confess to it, Johnson told him he should expect the angry and accusatory reaction when he repeatedly called Walton a liar.
Gillen continued to challenge Walton’s veracity and once sarcastically noted “we can rely on the good high morals of Mr. Walton who raised his hand” when he took an oath before the special grand jury in 2013.
Walton testified that while Ellis said he did not order vendors cut off from county business because they did not help his campaign, “”I knew it was a lie and he knew it was a lie.”
And if Ellis had known he was being recorded he would have lied then as well.
“That’s the type of client you’re dealing with. You can’t believe nothing he says because he’s a liar,” Walton said.
“You’re a liar, aren’t you,” Gillen said.
“He’s a liar,” Walton snapped back. “You’re representing a liar.”
Gillen shot back: “Just a second. You are a liar.”
“And so is your client. When is your client going to admit to that? If we didn’t have these recordings he would be denying all this we have on these recordings,” Walton said.
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