Alabama: Opening arguments expected today in gambling corruption retrial

Opening arguments expected today in gambling corruption retrial
Written by Sebastian Kitchen

The attorneys in a high-profile federal corruption case have selected a jury and are expected to begin opening arguments today in the retrial of VictoryLand owner Milton McGregor and five others.

After three days of questioning potential jurors about themselves and thoughts on issues that the two sides believe could be relevant in the case, the attorneys narrowed down the pool of about 200 potential jurors to 12 jurors and four alternates. The Associated Press reported that attorneys questioned 84 of those potential jurors.

They finished jury selection just after 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and opening arguments are expected to begin at 9 a.m. today.

Among the jurors, who are predominantly female, are a state employee, someone who works in marketing, a woman who lives with her "granny" and does not work, and a registered nurse -- all four live in Montgomery.

During the last trial, which ended in August, 11 of the 12 jurors were female.
Prosecutors accuse the six defendants of allegedly being involved in a scheme in which casino owners and their lobbyists bribed lawmakers, with cash and campaign contributions, to vote for pro-gambling legislation.

Kendall Day, lead prosecutor in the case for the U.S. Department of Justice, told the pools of potential jurors that they would not hear the word "bribe" on the conversations secretly recorded for the FBI that could be played in court.

Bobby Segall, an attorney for McGregor, told potential jurors that his client was not guilty.

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ordered the two sides to be in court at 7 a.m. today to argue looming pretrial motions, such as whether defense attorneys can criticize the investigation and whether prosecutors can use the words "bribe" or "co-conspirator."

During the first trial, the jury did not find any of the defendants guilty on the more than 120 counts against them and two of the defendants were found not guilty of all of the counts against them. The jury could not reach a unanimous decision on 33 counts and Thompson declared a mistrial on those.

On the eve of this trial, defendant Ray Crosby, who analyzed bills for the Legislature, died of what the coroner ruled as natural causes related to his heart. Thompson dismissed the one remaining charge against Crosby.

The other defendants include state Sen. Harri Anne Smith, an independent from Slocomb; former Democratic state Sen. Larry Means of Attalla; former Republican state Sen. Jim Preuitt of Talladega; McGregor lobbyist Tom Coker; and former Country Crossing spokesman Jay Walker.