Alabama: Jury deliberations begin

Jury deliberations begin Friday in gambling trial
By PHILLIP RAWLS

MONTGOMERY, Ala.

Defense attorneys for four current and former state senators told the jury in the Alabama Statehouse corruption trial Thursday that the lawmakers never agreed to trade votes on pro-gambling legislation for campaign contributions and the prosecution can't present any wiretapped phone calls to prove they did.

The jury heard the second day of closing arguments in the two-month trial. Closing arguments will end Friday morning, and U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson said the jury should begin deliberations after lunch.

The senators are on trial with VictoryLand casino owner Milton McGregor, two of his lobbyists and two others on charges they conspired to buy and sell votes for legislation designed to keep electronic bingo casinos operating.

A lawyer for Democratic Sen. Quinton Ross of Montgomery said he had supported every gambling bill that ever came before the Legislature.

"How can he participate in the conspiracy when he's always supported electronic bingo?" attorney Lewis Gillis asked.

An attorney for former Republican Sen. Quinton Ross of Talladega told jurors that there are no wiretapped phone calls and no testimony that show he ever sought to trade his vote.

"Not one witness has told you Jim Preuitt asked for one penny," attorney Ron Wise said.

Attorneys for former Democratic Sen. Larry Means of Attalla and independent Sen. Harri Anne Smith of Slocomb made similar arguments in their final comments to the jury.

Prosecutors said from the start of the trial there was never any recording where a senator said "I'll do this for that," but it was clear from recordings and testimony that both sides understood what the offer of campaign contributions meant as gambling proponents scrambled to get votes to electronic bingo machines that produced millions in income.

Country Crossing casino developer Ronnie Gilley and two of his lobbyists pleaded guilty to conspiring to offer large campaign contributions to the senators for their votes and testified in the trial.

One of the lobbyists, Jennfier Pouncy, testified last month that Preuitt never sought a contribution, but she offered $2 million at the direction of Gilley and Massey. She said Ross and Means asked for campaign contributions, but they never said their votes hinged on getting the money.

Pouncy testified that Means asked her for a $100,000 campaign contribution about a week before the Senate passed a proposed constitutional amendment designed to protect electronic bingo machines.

Means' attorney, Bill Clark, said Means told people that he faced a tough re-election campaign last year and needed help, but he never promised any official action in return for the vote.

"He never asked for a campaign contribution in exchange for a vote. He never agreed to accept a campaign contribution in exchange for a vote," he said.

Gilley and Country Crossing lobbyist Massey testified earlier in the trial about funneling campaign contributions to Smith through political action committees and other donors to hide their connection to gambling interests. Gilley also testified about spending more than $200,000 to throw a fundraising event for Smith with country singers Lorrie Morgan and John Anderson to make sure she maintained her support of gambling legislation.

"I say to you: Nay, nay," defense attorney Jim Parkman said. He said prosecutors recorded 12,000 wiretapped phone calls but couldn't point to one where she swapped her vote for money.

Motioning toward the prosecution, Parkman said Gilley performed like an entertainer on the witness stand, even singing his cell phone's ring tone from Jamey Johnson's country hit "In Color," but his testimony against the senators was designed to win him a prize: A recommendation from prosecutors for probation rather than a prison sentence.

"To him, it's American Idol," Parkman said.

Parkman's flamboyant 90-minute closing argument was written on a hotel napkin and was built around references to TV shows. He said defense attorneys caught the Country Crossing group in so much conflicting testimony that they became "Scooby Doo moments."

"Ruh-roh," he told the jury.

A defense attorney for Ray Crosby, who was the Legislature's point man on writing gambling legislation, acknowledged that his client accepted $3,000 a month for two years from McGregor, but said they weren't bribes. Attorney Tommy Goggans said McGregor reported the monthly checks to the IRS and wanted to show Crosby that he appreciated his hard work.

"That's not wrong. That's hospitality," Crosby said.

Gilley and McGregor ran casinos filled with electronic bingo machines featuring flashing lights and sound effects like slot machines. Former Gov. Bob Riley's gambling task force maintained the games were illegal slots and succeeded in closing the casinos in Dothan and Shorter last year.

The legislation designed to protect the games got passed by the Senate on March 30, 2010, with all four senators supporting it. The FBI disclosed its investigation of Statehouse corruption two days later and the bill died in the House without coming to a vote.

Smith and Ross got re-elected after begin indicted, Means got defeated, and Preuitt dropped his re-election bid.