Prosecution In Gambling Corruption Case Requests Gag Order For Retrial
Defense Attorneys fighting the request for a Gag Order.
Todd Prater
Prosecutors in the gambling vote buying case are requesting a gag order on the retrial set to begin Monday. The first time the case was tried there were frequent comments by the defense criticizing the prosecution's case. However Federal prosecutors haven't spoken to the press other than the initial news conference announcing the arrests over a year ago. Defense lawyers are fighting the gag request. No ruling from the judge yet.
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Coroner: Crosby died of natural causes
Written by Sebastian Kitchen
Dealing with legal problems, a divorce, health issues and financial difficulties, Joseph "Ray" Crosby died of heart problems on the eve of a second corruption trial in which he hoped to vindicate himself.
"After this investigation, it has been concluded that the death was natu ral and the cause of death was hyperten sive cardiovas cular disease," Special Coroner David Thrasher wrote in information he released Friday afternoon.
Also on Friday, a federal judge dismissed the one remaining charge against Crosby, who was accused of accepting a bribe.
Crosby, one of seven defendants scheduled to go on trial this week in a federal corruption case related to gambling in the state, died Jan. 29 at his Gunster Road home in Montgomery, according to Thrasher.
Thrasher released that information after the Alabama Department of Forensic Science conducted an autopsy and toxicological analysis. He wrote that the forensic science department and the Montgomery Police Department conducted an investigation of the death.
A friend told the Montgomery Advertiser earlier this week that he found Crosby dead in his bed about 4:30 p.m. Sunday after Crosby's daughter became concerned because she could not reach him. Danny Corbett said paramedics told him Crosby had been dead about 12 hours.
He said there were no signs of wrongdoing or foul play.
"When I opened the door (to his bedroom), he looked like he was asleep," said Corbett, a former state senator.
He said his friend was lying on his side with a book beside him and had his cellphone charging.
Corbett said, after calling 911, he and his girlfriend looked through the house, which he said was "neat," and that everything was "normal as could be."
"It appears to me his heart just quit beating," he said.
Crosby, according to his friend, had trouble with his heart and was extremely stressed from the trial, ensuing financial issues, and a divorce. He had filed for bankruptcy the week before he died, according to an Associated Press report.
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"He went to sleep and didn't make it back," Corbett said.
He said the trial cost Crosby financially, damaged his family, and possibly cost him his life.
"I understand it because I lived a lot of it with him," he said.
Corbett said he talked about the death because there had been false rumors that he was trying to quash. He said there was no note at the house and no signs of physical harm to Crosby.
Crosby, a former longtime employee of the Legislature, was scheduled to go on trial Monday, less than 24 hours after he was found dead.
There were no convictions in the original 10-week trial, which began in June, and two of the defendants were found not guilty on all of the charges against them.
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson declared a mistrial on the remaining 33 counts, with the jury deadlocked on those, and set the date for the second trial after prosecutors decided to move forward with the case.
Thompson ruled Monday, while Montgomery police were investigating Crosby's death, that the trial would be delayed a week and begin with jury selection at 9 a.m. this Monday.
The judge threw out 12 counts against Crosby before the case went to the jury and the jury could not reach a unanimous decision on the one pending bribery charge against him.
Thompson dismissed that charge against Crosby on Friday. He has not dismissed the correlating charge against McGregor.
Crosby was among 11 people arrested in October 2010. Two pleaded guilty before the case went to trial.
The defendants are accused of allegedly being involved in a scheme in which casino owners bribed state lawmakers, with offers of cash and campaign funds, to support gambling legislation.
Prosecutors accuse casino owner Milton McGregor of bribing Crosby with monthly payments to craft legislation that would benefit him, but defense lawyers pointed to legislation that Crosby drafted for legislators that would have hurt McGregor's operations.
The other defendants are state Sen. Harri Anne Smith; former state Sens. Larry Means and Jim Preuitt; McGregor lobbyist Tom Coker; and former Country Crossing spokesman Jay Walker.
After delay, corruption retrial begins Monday
By: Lance Griffin Dothan Eagle
Alabama’s gambling corruption retrial begins Monday, almost six months after the first trial ended in numerous acquittals and several hung counts and eight days after one of the defendants was found dead.
Six defendants will stand trial, five fewer than were originally arrested in October of 2010 when federal authorities swooped into the state and made a roundup of arrests. Two of the original defendants, Country Crossing developer Ronnie Gilley and lobbyist Jarrod Massey, pleaded guilty to multiple bribery counts. Two defendants, Sen. Quinton Ross, D-Montgomery, and lobbyist Robert Geddie, were acquitted of all charges in the first trial that ended in August of 2011. The retrial was scheduled to begin Jan. 30, but was delayed one week after defendant Ray Crosby, a former legislative analyst, was found dead in his home Jan. 29. Crosby faced a single count of bribery, which was dismissed in the wake of his death.
Jury selection begins at 9 a.m. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson has ordered attorneys and defendants to be present at 8 a.m. in order to take care of any pre-trial motions that may still be pending.
One motion that still remained unresolved Friday is a motion by prosecutors to bar attorneys from making public comments about the trial. The prosecution motion and defense responses have been filed under seal and are unavailable for public view.
A federal jury acquitted the defendants on 91 counts during the initial trial, but was unable to come to a consensus on 33 counts.
The remaining defendants and counts follow:
» Milton McGregor: Owner of the VictoryLand casino. McGregor still faces charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery in an alleged offer of $1 million in public relations business to Sen. Scott Beason, two additional bribery counts in the alleged offer of campaign donations to then-Sens. Larry Means and Jim Preuitt in exchange for a pro-gambling vote, bribery in the alleged payment of $42,000 to former legislative analyst Ray Crosby, and nine counts of honest services wire fraud.
» Tom Coker: Lobbyist for McGregor. Coker still faces charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery in the alleged offer of campaign support to Preuitt in exchange for a pro-gambling vote and one count of honest services wire fraud.
» Larry Means: Former state senator from Etowah County. Means still faces a charge of conspiracy, and a bribery count in which prosecutors allege Means sought $100,000 in exchange for his pro-gambling vote.
» Jim Preuitt: Former state senator from Talladega. Preuitt still faces a charge of conspiracy, one count of bribery in which prosecutors allege he agreed to accept $2 million in campaign support for his pro-gambling vote, and one count of making a false statement to FBI investigators.
» Harri Anne Smith: State senator from Slocomb. Smith still faces a charge of conspiracy, bribery in connection with what prosecutors say was an agreement to accept $400,000 in campaign donations from Gilley in exchange for help with pro-gambling legislation, two counts of honest services wire fraud and four counts of money laundering.
» Jay Walker: Former Country Crossing spokesperson. Walker still faces a charge of conspiracy and a single count of bribery in connection with an alleged offer of $2 million in campaign help to Preuitt.
Coroner: Alabama gambling defendant's death from natural causes.
PHILLIP RAWLS Associated Press
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A defendant died from natural causes on the eve of his retrial in the gambling corruption case involving lawmakers and others at the Alabama Statehouse, a coroner said Friday.
An autopsy and toxicology analysis by the state Department of Forensic Science showed Ray Crosby's death resulted from hypertensive cardiovascular disease, said Montgomery County Coroner David Thrasher.
Crosby, 63, was found in his bed at his Montgomery home shortly after 4 p.m. on Jan. 29.
A retrial for him and six other defendants was scheduled to start the next morning. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson delayed the trial one week because of Crosby's death.
Montgomery County Coroner David Thrasher said Friday an autopsy by the state Department of Forensic Science showed Crosby died from hypertensive cardiovascular disease.
Before his indictment in October 2010, Crosby worked at the Legislature writing bills for lawmakers, including on gambling issues. Prosecutors accused him of taking bribes of $3,000 a month from casino owner Milton McGregor to advise him about gambling bills that were being written. At the request of prosecutors, the judge on Friday dropped the bribery charge, as is customary when a defendant dies before a verdict.
Former state Sen. Danny Corbett, who found the body, said the autopsy results should end speculation about how Crosby died.
Corbett had told reporters that it looked as if Crosby died in his sleep with a paperback book by his side and that high-blood pressure medicine and a blood thinner were on his nightstand.
McGregor is slated for trial Monday along with state Sen. Harri Anne Smith, former Sens. Larry Means and Jim Preuitt, casino lobbyist Tom Coker, and former casino spokesman Jay Walker. They are accused of using campaign contributions to buy and sell votes for pro-gambling legislation.
Attorneys estimate the retrial could last six to eight weeks.
The original lasted 10 weeks and ended in August with two defendants acquitted on all charges, no convictions, and the jury unable to decide all counts against seven defendants, including Crosby.
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