Defense: ‘Hill’s guilty of wanting his job back’

Opening statements have begun.

9:42 a.m. "What is a thief?" That's the question special prosecutor Layla Zon posed to the jury. "A thief is somebody who takes something that belongs to someone else on purpose. That's all this case is about," Zon told jurors. "Evidence will show that Victor Hill is a thief. It's not about the amount of money, it's the trust he took." She said Sheriff's Office employees were placed in difficult positions. She told how one employee had to go during his workday to Hill's home to write Hill's biography. She told how one worker refused to testify before a special grand jury, and the next time the woman was called, Hill sent an attorney to the worker "with an intent to deter her" from testifying.

11:15 a.m. Defense attorney Steven Frey countered the state's opening statement saying Hill never got a chance to really tell his side of the story once the new administration of Sheriff Kem Kimbrough took office after Hill lost. Frey zeroed in on accusations that Hill used county credit cards to finance trips. On a trip to Helen, Frey said Hill used the card to initially book hotel rooms but paid cash when he got there but forgot to reconcile the deposit on the card. Frey said Hill never got a call from Kimbrough to clear up the matter - until subpoenas and indictments were issued. Frey sought to discredit a key witness set to testify against Hill later in the trial. Frey said this trial is an effort to get to the "bottom of things."

11:40 a.m. - Defense attorney Steven Frey worked at building a case that shows that Hill's enemies want to thwart his efforts to "get his old job back." A special operation to investigate Victor Hill was formed under Kem Kimbrough, the sheriff that followed Hill after his first term, Frey told the jury. The operation, known as the Sheriff's Office Special Investigation Section, spied on Hill and rifled through his trash and mail.

11:50 a.m. : Defense attorney Steven Frey concludes his opening statement by telling the jury the burden of proof rests with Special Assistant District Layla Zon. "At the end of the day, Hill is guilty of one thing - wanting his job back. That's it," Frey said. "He's guilty of being hated too. But he's guilty of wanting his job back."

11:55 a.m.: Break for lunch. Stay tuned…

1:42 p.m. Trial resumes. Both sides laid out a map of sorts on how they plan to approach the case: prosecutor Layla Zon said Victor Hill is on trial because of greed. The defense says it's nothing but petty politics that has landed the 48-year-old sheriff in court. The state calls Kerry Norris with the Georgia Sheriff's Association as the first witness.

2:10 p.m.: Sheriff's deputy William Brock tells the court about a request that he received in June 2009 by Brian Crisp to get information off of a laptop once used by then-former sheriff Victor Hill. Brock is told it is needed by the special investigation section. Defense attorney Drew Findling, in cross-exam, asks Brock if Crisp is one of the 27 employees fired when Hill first took office his first term. Brock said yes. Findling counters: "So he's (Crisp) is in charge of an investigation of the guy who fired him?"

2:48 p.m. : A series of witnesses ranging from the sheriff's office employee who oversees supplies and equipment to a retired county fleet maintenance employee testify.

2:49 p.m.: Colleen Roberts, a former employee with Blue Ridge Cabin Rentals near Helen, Ga. tells the court she took a reservation for Victor Hill in June 2008. She said the reservation was made with a credit card and included a signature from Hill. Defense attorney Steven Frey, in cross-examination, asked Roberts if the balance was paid by another means once Hill arrived. Roberts answers yes.

3:20 p.m.: During the defense's cross-exam of Grant Kidd Jr., Hill's former bodyguard and driver, special prosecutor Zon pushed back on the defense's effort to show having Kidd's protection was Hill's attempt to protect himself as he was making enemies while trying to eradicate crime in the county. "This is not about him stopping crime, it's about him stealing money," Zon said. Findling said the line of questioning was to counter the state's racketeering charge in which Hill was using sheriff office employees for his own personal gain. Judge Albert Collier sustained Zon's objection.

4:15 p.m.: Former Sheriff's Office employee Beatrice Powell recalls how she and another woman, Naomi Nash, accompanied Hill on a trip to Florida, the day after Hill lost his bid for re-election in 2008. The impromptu road trip was an effort to "cheer him up" because he was despondent after losing the election, said Powell, who now lives in Florida. The trio went on subsequent trips throughout Florida, South Carolina and Mississippi in the county-owned vehicle. "I don't know how he paid for it," Powell said adding in some cases he paid cash. Powell told the court she took the trips, that extended through the fall of 2008, while on paid leave from work for a medical condition. Zon asked Powell did she know that she was listed as being on "special detail." Powell said she was not aware of that. Powell is under indictment for perjury and testified under immunity.

4:33 p.m.: During her questioning by special prosecutor Zon, Powell, 39, grows emotional and her voice cracks as she recalls her testimony before the Grand jury. "I went in as a witness for the state and they turned me into a defendant."

4:45 p.m. : Defense attorney Findling, in cross-examining Powell, notes that even during the out-of-town trips in 2008, Hill stayed in contact with his office."Until the last day he left office, he was the sheriff, am I right?" Findlay said. Findley spends a good deal of time laying out a case that Powell - not Hill - paid for her own attorneys, repeatedly checked with doctors regarding her time off from work.

5:22 p.m.: Trial adjourns and resumes Friday at 9 a.m.