Friday, June 10, 2011

Alabama bingo trial: Attorneys for 4 politicians deny clients solicited or took bribes - Bham News

Posted by The Meck

excerpt ..
William White, an attorney for Smith, noted that her constituents overwhelmingly returned her to office despite the fact that she had been indicted the month before on the corruption charges.
White characterized his client’s support of the referendum as part of her career-long desire to support her constituents’ desires.

“From our perspective, this case is about the right of the people to vote,” he said.

White said evidence will show that Smith tried to get then-Gov. Bob Riley to support a gambling referendum as far back as 2008 – long before the alleged vote-buying conspiracy. It was before she even had met Gilley, White said.
Noting that prosecutor Justin Shur said in his opening statement that Smith wrote a note to Preuitt trying to support a bribe of him. “I can’t wait for that one,” White said, drawing loud laughter form his client.

White ridiculed Shur’s allegation that his client accepted more than $500,000 in campaign contributions in exchange for her vote. He said his client did not knowingly take a penny from Gilley in 2010. He said she did accept a much smaller amount of money -- $50,000 to $60,000 – from a fundraiser that Gilley hosted for her the previous December.
But it had nothing to do with any vote, White said.

“I’ll submit to you they can’t get close to a half-million dollars,” he said. “They can’t get close to a ‘truckload of cash.’”

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Ala bingo trial: Attorneys for 4 politicians deny clients solicited or took bribes - Bham News
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