Alabama: Jury could get case today

Gambling corruption trial: Jury could get case today
Written by Sebastian Kitchen

Following a colorful and emo­tional day of closing arguments Thursday, the judge presiding over a federal corruption case expects to conclude arguments this morn­ing and allow the jury to begin de­liberating by 1 p.m.

Attorneys for eight of the nine defendants have concluded their closing arguments, with Susan James set to deliver her arguments on behalf of Country Crossing spokesman Jay Walker at 8 a.m. She will have an hour.

Following James, prosecutors will have almost two hours to con­clude their closing arguments.

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson will then give the jury its instructions, which could be lengthy with more than 35 counts and nine defendants, and said he hopes the jury will begin deliberat­ing by no later than 1 p.m.

Closing arguments in the case, which began in early June, started Wednesday.

James will follow Ron Wise, at­torney for former state Sen. Jim Preuitt of Talladega, who talked Thursday about lobby­ists -- who pleaded guilty and are cooperating with the prosecution -- playing on the senator's emotions after the suicide of his grandson.

She will also follow Jim Parkman, attorney for state Sen. Harri Anne Smith, who referred to "American Idol," Scooby-Doo and Seinfeld in his colorful closing argu­ment, one that led Thompson to threaten to clear the courtroom if spectators didn't stifle their laughter at the attorney's sarcasm and stinging statements.

Attorneys for Sen. Quinton Ross, former Sen. Larry Means, and legislative analyst and attorney Ray Crosby also delivered their closing arguments Thursday.

The other defendants are VictoryLand owner Milton McGregor and two of his lob­byists, Tom Coker and Bob Geddie.

The nine defendants are accused of participating in a conspiracy in which casino owners and their lobbyists bribed state lawmakers to pass gambling legislation.

Country Crossing develop­er Ronnie Gilley and two of his lobbyists, Jarrod Massey and Jennifer Pouncy, have already pleaded guilty in the case.

No respect

Parkman said the prosecu­tion's case is based on liars, thieves, con-men, convicted felons, egomaniacs, and "people that have no respect for women, people that have no respect for African-Amer­icans."

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"I'm not just calling them names, I'm telling you what they are," Parkman told the jury.
Smith, an independent sen­ator from Slocomb, repre­sents the southeast Alabama district that includes the Country Crossing develop­ment, which included a bingo pavilion.

Parkman said Smith has supported people voting on gambling legislation since April 2008. Smith had previ­ously introduced a bill to try to stop so-called electronic bingo at Country Crossing.

Prosecutors have played audio recordings of Smith asking for money from Gilley and have attributed her change in heart to his financial help.

Parkman and Smith said although she opposes gam­bling, she supported people voting on the issue and sup­ported economic develop­ment in her district.

Parkman said there were some Scooby-Doo moments during the trial with people saying "Rut Roh" when there were inconsistent statements by Gilley and Massey.

He said several govern­ment witnesses -- state Sen. Scott Beason, state Rep. Ben­jamin Lewis, Gilley and Mas­sey -- told different versions of a 2009 dinner at Garrett's restaurant. Beason accused Smith of telling him that those at the dinner, which in­cluded some country musi­cians and producers, could contribute $500,000 to his campaign for lieutenant gov­ernor if he supported Coun­try Crossing. Smith denied she ever made the offer to Beason.

Parkman also talked about a call Lewis recorded be­tween him and Smith in which she told him to vote his conscience. He said that was clear evidence that she was not part of a conspiracy pushing the gambling legisla­tion.

Parkman also criticized Gilley for singing a line from a song on the witness stand while the future of Smith and her family was on the line. Gilley, Parkman said, thought he was on "Ameri­can Idol" and wanted to move on to the next round -- probation and a lower sen­tence.

Parkman asked which of the three prosecutors he pointed to would be Paula Abdul.
Parkman referred to this as a "Wisconsin prosecution" -- "It's got more holes in it than Swiss cheese."

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He also referenced an epi­sode of the hit show "Sein­feld" and made his own twist on a conversation between characters Jerry and George -- "It's not a bribe if you be­lieve it to be the truth."

Caught in the net

Lewis Gillis, attorney for Ross, said the defendant sup­ported gambling in the state because it helped with edu­cation and economic devel­opment, and said he was "caught in the net" as he was trying to make calls solicit­ing campaign contributions while federal authorities were investigating other peo­ple.

Gillis said there was no discussion, when Ross called McGregor or those with Country Crossing, about how Ross would vote on gambling legislation and that he did not promise any action for his vote. He said Ross was always expected to vote for the legislation, although prosecutors point to him in­troducing what they said was competing legislation.

Ross is accused of pushing McGregor and those repre­senting Country Crossing for campaign contributions lead­ing up to the vote on the gambling bill. Pouncy said he became demanding.
Gillis also reiterated that Gilley and Massey would not return phone calls to Ross.

State law

Tommy Goggans, an attor­ney for Crosby, who McGre­gor paid $3,000 a month while Crosby worked for the state helping to draft bills, acknowledged his client should have disclosed the payments sooner, but said people are allowed to file amendments. Crosby filed payments on amended state­ments of economic interests, which certain state employ­ees are required to submit to the Alabama Ethics Commis­sion, after the investigation became public.

"You're not here to decide if someone followed state law or not," Goggans said.

Goggans also pointed out that McGregor wrote the checks from his business.

And with Crosby accused of using his official position to help McGregor, Goggans talked about several pieces of legislation that his client drafted that would have dev­astated VictoryLand.
Prosecutors have said Crosby knew the payments were wrong because he did not report them for years, and they stopped right after the investigation became public.

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Memory

Attorneys for Means and Preuitt said Thursday that there was no evidence against their clients and that the case against them is based on the testimony of three admitted liars who have pleaded guilty in the case.

They also said there is no evidence that their clients asked for or requested con­tributions in exchange for their votes on gambling leg­islation.

Means, D-Attalla, is ac­cused of what Massey called a "shakedown," asking for $100,000 in campaign contri­butions leading up to the vote on the legislation, which would have legalized electronic gambling in the state if approved by voters.

"This is Jarrod Massey's word and he did not even talk to Larry Means," said Bill Clark, attorney for Means.

Pouncy, after receiving a text message from the sena­tor, talked to Means in his of­fice. She said on the witness stand that she did not use the word "shakedown."

Massey used it when he called Gilley, who approved paying the money to Means.

Means and Preuitt voted differently or did not vote to bring up the original gam­bling legislation, but both voted for the version that passed the Senate on March 30, 2010. Clark pointed out that the legislation was dra­matically different.

They were both, according to testimony, concerned about Etowah County, which was represented by Means, being treated fairly and be­ing allowed to have a casino location.

Prosecutors accuse the senators of voting for the legislation after being as­sured by lobbyists for McGregor and Gilley that they would receive signifi­cant campaign help.

Pouncy said she offered Preuitt $2 million in help for his campaign. But, when questioned by attorneys, there was some uncertainty about when the meeting oc­curred and whether Preuitt actually heard the offer be­cause he changed the sub­ject. Pouncy said on the wit­ness stand that she could not remember what happened 25 minutes before.

"Are you going to rely on someone's memory when she can't remember what she said 25 minutes ago," Wise asked.

Wise also pointed to com­ments from Gilley, who said Preuitt did not want his mon­ey and funded his own cam­paign.

Prosecutors have pointed to Preuitt and Gilley talking after the vote.

"Preuitt never committed to accepting anything for his vote," Wise said.