Moyers right about Wright

Day four: The wicket gets stickier for Medford

I ought to note here that due to time constraints I have been reporting the testimony of government witnesses without going into the cross examination by defense attorneys. They are indeed quizzing and questioning, but through the week and to the end of the day on Friday they scored no big points in their attempt to undercut the veracity of the witnesses or relevance of the evidence. If such occurs I will report it, and I will stick with this trial through the end, now estimated by Judge Tim Ellis to be on or about May 15.

Friday’s session started out with the judge revisiting a question raised on Thursday by juror #30 (the jurors are identified only by their original numbers in the 69-member pool). Number 30 had voiced concern because he was familiar with a name that had come up on Wednesday. The name is associated with the case, though that person will not be a witness and is not a subject of the current proceedings. In voire dire (i.e. direct questioning by the judge) on Thursday, juror #30 had explained some social contact with the named person and both the prosecution and defense had weighed the concern and agreed to postpone possible removal. Following the further discussion at the outset of Friday’s session and another voire dire, that juror was excused.

Judge Ellis explained to the juror that he had acted appropriately and honorably and that the dismissal was to prevent any possible suggestion that the aquaintanceship had colored a decision and to prevent the juror from feeling any personal qualms about the effect of a decision on his acquaintance. So, we’re down to one alternate.

Johnny Harrison returned to the stand Friday morning and Medford attorney Victoria Jane resumed her cross examination. She queried Harrison about his practice of keeping a bank bag full of cash in the trunk of his cruiser and cashing checks when Medford needed money beyond the available. Her questions reestablished Harrison’s previous testimony that he, Guy Penland and Ronnie “Butch” Davis routinely signed Bobby Medford’s name to checks before cashing them. Harrison repeated his assertion that it was done with Medford’s approval.

Jane also elicited testimony that Harrison and the department had closed down two video poker locations which had been the source of frequent complaints and which were not paying protection money.

As I predicted following the opening argument by Medford attorney Stephen Lindsay, Jane had Harrison confirm that he is married to former sheriff Harry Clay’s widow. It looks like one line of defense will be to link the crimes committed during Medford’s tenure to the notoriously corrupt Clay, in an effort to paint Medford as a hapless administrator whose underlings were carrying out their schemes without his knowledge.

Jane also tried to paint Harrison’s testimony as tainted by the plea deal he signed, suggesting that he was cooperating with the prosecutors in order to get a lighter sentence. Harrsion responded, “Ma’m, I pled guilty because I am guilty and I would appreciate any consideration I might receive.”

She talked about his Myrtle Beach home and said, “Your ability to enjoy the beach in your later years will be somewhat restricted if you are in jail.”

He replied, “Ma’m, you’ve got that one hundred percent right.” Later he added, “It’s hard for me to sit up here and say what I’ve done, to say what Bobby has done, to say what Guy has done, to talk about what Frank Orr has done. But it is the truth.”

In redirect, U.S. Attorney Richard Edwards asked Harrison to read the section of his plea agreement which stipulated that if any of his testimony were to prove false, that the entire agreement would be void.

Guy Penland’s attorney, Paul Bidwell helped the prosecution along when he elicted further details about Harrison’s channeling of funds to Medford which he in turn distributed to his family members. “He took care of them as well as he could.” This further corroborates what several of my sources have told me over the years, that Medford’s family would gather round in the sheriff’s office for distribution of funds. No one has questioned his generosity.

Because Bidwell opened that can of worms, Edwards returned to it in redirect and elicited further information about money to the family.

Taken all together, Harrison’s testimony drew a picture of many payoffs by several machine operators over many years, in unreported cash transactions, to Medford, Penland, Orr and himself.

At 11:45 a.m. the prosecution called Nick Anagnostopoulos to the stand. Anagnostopoulos is the owner of George’s Mini Mart, one of two stores that routinely cashed Medford’s checks for several years. He testified about the check cashing arrangement and his illegal operation of video poker machines owned by the Hot Dog King, Demetre Theodosis (already convicted on illegal gaming charges).

Anagnostopoulos said that Medford occasionally cashed his own checks at the store, and would call ahead to make sure there was enough cash on hand, though he always waited in the car and had a female companion actually conduct the transaction. The prosecution offered photos of numerous checks and bank records to underscored the testimony. Occasionally Medford wrote bad checks , according to Anagnostopoulos, and Harrison would cover them with cash.

Anagnostopoulos testified that he and Theodosis had attended a meeting with Medford when the 2000 gaming law went into effect and that Medford told them both “If you don’t cause problems for me, I won’t cause problems for you.” He interpreted that as a green light on illegal operation of the machines.

The next prosecution witness was Robert Robinson, a communications specialist with the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department who took and routinely recorded a phone call from Guy Penland to run the plate on a car. Penland and Jerry Pennington, an employee of Henderson Amusement (a video poker operation) had staked out a location where an undercover officer was investigating illegal gambling. Penland’s call revealed that the car was in fact that of an undercover agent. According to the prosecution this not only tipped off the criminals but could have endangered the agent’s life.

Robinson noted that Medford issued a memo following revelation of Penland’s action to the effect that the communications department was to refrain from running any more tags for Penland.

Jackie Shepherd was next up for the prosecution.

(More on that a little later, I’ve got to work on my campaign for a couple of hours.)

(Well, it’s now Sunday morning. But I’ll continue this post since that will offer more continuity on Friday’s session than starting a new post.)

Jackie Willis Shepherd, who has already pled guilty to running an illegal gambling operation, may be cast as the most noble of those who’ve pled. His bargain was to confess and testify for the prosecution if the government dropped charges against his son and step-son. “I said this is my responsibility. take my sons off the list and I’ll plead guilty.” Whatever one might think about his crimes, his sons owe him an enormous debt of gratitude.

Shepherd testified that he got into the video poker business in 1999, when he took the business away from his son. “He was into drugs and wasn’t tending to business, and he stole some money from me.” He said he formed Western Amusement corporation to run the gaming in 2000, and brought in a partner from South Carolina named Keith Comer. Comer paid $75,000 for his half of the business ($50,000 cash and a $25,000 note to Shepherd repaid with machine profits.)

Shepherd said they ran the machine operation until June 28, 2007 when they were raided and the machines were seized. Asked by the prosecution if he made illegal cash payouts he responded, “I did. If we knew the person who was playing, we paid them.”

Asked how he got involved with Medford, Shepherd said, “I heard in 1993 that [Sheriff] Charlie Long was watching my son’s gambling operation.”

Shepherd said that in preparation for the election campaign he hired a tailor to make Medford suits and “I hired a speech lady to help him talk to crowds.” He said he put $20,000 to $30,000 into the 1994 campaign. Asked why he spent so much money, Shepherd replied, “We needed some changes in the county. We needed him to go in and clean up the county.”

The two had a falling out in 1997 and Shepherd sat out the 1998 and 2002 elections, according to his testimony.

Shepherd also said that Kay Carter, who worked for both the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department and one of Shepherd’s convenience stores, also made cash payouts to video poker players, “If she knew them.”

Shepherd also testified to making cash payments to Medford on several occasions, sometimes characterized as “loans.” Did he pay you back? “No.” Why? “He wasn’t botherin’ my poker machines.” He also said his stores had cashed bad checks for Medford which were later covered by Carter or Medford’s secretary Sharon Stewart.

Finally he affirmed that he had received a phone call from Ronnie “Butch” Davis on Nov. 14, 2006, alerting him to the bust of the Theodosis Hot Dog King locations. (Records showed that multiple phone calls went out from the sheriff’s department that day to numerous gaming operators, presumably informing them of the bust.)

In cross examination, Lindsay made a point of noting that one of Medford’s sons had had drug problems as well, and said, “And you talked about it?”

“About my son,” Shepherd replied, “Not his.”

Just before 3 p.m., Linda Clontz, of the N.C. Department of Corrections took the stand. Clontz, who said she has known Medford for 30 years, oversees the community service/alternative sentencing program in Buncombe.

Her testimony concerned the community service of Jerry Pennington, the “salesman” for Henderson Amusement (concerning which matter, Harrison had previously testified that he signed off on service that was never done).

Clontz said she had been disturbed about the entire arrangement from the beginning. It was almost unheard of for a court to order a change of venue for service (from Cleveland County to Buncombe). It was entirely unheard of for a person to perform service in a county in which he was not a resident, and Pennington’s address was Kings Mountain. Then, when she received the completed form from Penland, with Harrison’s initials and signature, she was suspicious that the hours had not actually been served. “Just intuition,” she testified, “So I called Bobby Medford to express my displeasure and suspicion.”

The final witness for the week was Anna Deaton, an employee of Henderson Amusement whose work included transcription of hand written notes from Jerry Pennington into a computer database, as well as maintenance of paper files. Though she now works for Henderson in Spartanburg, from 2003 until May 17, 2007 she worked at the company’s Kings Mountain location.

Deaton led the prosecution through her files, which included three filing boxes of detailed notes about payoffs to Medford, Penland, Harrison and others. In addition she testified that Penland had once driven her to the Haywood County Sheriff’s office to get machines registered there.

Proceedings adjourned at about 4:15 p.m.because Judge Ellis needed to catch a plane. Court will reconvene at 9 a.m. Monday. It was also announced that Tuesday’s start will be delayed until 10 a.m. to permit jurors time to vote.

Medford trial, day three

Three government witnesses appeared during Thursday’s proceedings in the trial of former Buncombe Sheriff Bobby Medford.

First up was Eddie Caldwell, Executive Vice President and General Counsel for the North Carolina Sheriff’s Association, a non-profit group comprised of all 100 county sheriffs in the state. The group handles education, advocacy and policy coordination among the state’s sheriffs.

Caldwell noted that the office of sheriff is the oldest office in the state, a carry-over from English common law. He explained sheriffs’ duties and the video poker laws enacted in 2000 (which legalized it) and 2006 (which phased it out).

Next FBI Agent Drew Grafton took the stand to outline evidence seized from the home of Ronnie “Butch” Davis in a raid on Feb.22, 2007. (Davis was a co-defendant of Medford, Penland and Harrison, and has already pled guilty in the case.) Grafton reported seizure of $18,000 in cash (wrapped in aluminum foil and stuffed above a duct), bank deposit slips, other financial records, notebookds, a Rolodex and a video poker machine.

At 2:55 former Buncombe County Lt. Johnny Harrison took the stand. Harrison has also pled guilty in the case.

Harrison, who was responsible for registration of video poker machines from 2001 through 2005, detailed his registration of illegal machines, acceptance of pay-offs from machine operators as directed by Medford, his work organizing semi-annual Medford Golf Classic events and receipt of funds from participants, his coordination of meetings between Medford and gambling operators, etc.

Harrison asserted that Medford told him that golf tournament receipts did not need to be reported in non-election years. (In election cycles the money went to the campaign and was reported to the Board of Elections.) In off years Harrison kept the money in the trunk of his patrol car and doled it out to Medford upon request. Harrison also testified that he, Guy Penland and others, routinely forged Medford’s signature on checks cashed at George’s Mini Mart and Bi-Lo stores. The Bi-Lo locations were used because they employed long-time Medford confidant Homer Honeycutt —first the Bi-Lo on Leicester Highway, later the Weaverville location.

Harrison said Medford told him not to cash checks at banks. During his testimony Harrison detailed financial transactions with Garren Amusement, Western Amusement, Mountain Music, Hot Dog King, Henderson Amusement and other video poker operators and locations.

He also testified that  Imran Alam (who has also pled guilty), a convenience store owner, had come to him with complaints about Henderson Amusement which allegedly was failing to provide timely service for poker machines at his stores and was allegedly shortchanging Alam on the split of gambling proceeds. Harrison said Medford initially refused to permit switching companies, but that Alam insisted on meeting with the sheriff.

Following a lunch date arranged by Harrison, he said Medford agreed to permit Alam to switch to Mountain Music machines and Alam paid Medford and Harrison each $3,000 in cash.

Harrison will take the stand again this morning at 9 a.m.

Proceedings adjourned for the day at about 5:30 p.m.

Gentlemen (mostly), start your engines

A longish post - but, trust me, not near as “longish” as the actual trial proceedings.
Jury selection in the Bobby Medford trial was completed at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, a full day later than initially predicted by Judge Tim Ellis. If this proves to be the rule we can anticipate a month-long trial.

Opening arguments commenced at 4:30.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Edwards laid out the government’s case using three charts. The charts illustrated how the video poker permitting system was supposed to work, how the permit system allegedly worked under Medford’s administration and the complicated flow of cash, checks and money orders from campaign contributors and video poker operators into the sheriff’s office, the campaign coffers, a federal credit union, the U.S. Post Office and various pockets.

Starting in 2000, county sheriffs in N.C. were required to register video poker machines and issue permit stickers. The only machines which could be permitted were those which were in the state before Jan. 1, 2000 and in operation before June 1 of that year. (This was to stem an anticipated flood of machines from S.C., which had banned them.)

Edwards said, “This is a case about public corruption, the abuse of power … and an effort to enrich Bobby Medford.” He told jurors that the government would offer documents that correlated cash deposits, purchase of postal money orders, organized fraud concerning campaign donors, sale of video poker permit stickers (which were supposed to be free with registration) and laundering of money through George’s Mini-Mart and a Bi-Lo grocery store. He discussed Medford’s gambling at Harrah’s with his girlfriend Judi Bell and his secretary Sharon Stewart and the massive losses incurred there, losses which approached Medford’s income of $100,000 - $125,000 per year, as well as “worthless” checks written at Harrah’s by Bell which were covered in the nick of time by large cash deposits to her credit union account.

He also detailed the issuance of special deputy badges to various players in the organized gambling scheme and an attempt to subvert the actions of a federal grand jury. He concluded by reiterating the specific charges which he said the government would prove true.

Defense Attorney Stephen Lindsay was up next, and bent most of his effort toward painting Medford as a sad, sick old man who was taken advantage of by unscrupulous underlings while his attention was on the difficult work of running a large law enforcement department. “Let me take you back to 1994,” he started, “That was a significant election because Republicans got elected across the board.” He characterized it as a “tidal wave” in which Bobby Medford was first elected.

Lindsay noted that video poker was present in North Carolina before 1994 and asserted that it went all the way back past Sheriff Charlie Long’s administration into Sheriff Harry Clay’s era. [A footnote: Johnny Harrison, already convicted in this case, and referred to as “Medford’s bagman” by many of my sources, is married to Harry Clay’s widow. I suspect this will be enlisted in Lindsay’s effort to pin the whole scheme on Harrison.]

Lindsay reiterated Edwards’ observation that the N.C. video poker law was changed in 2000 in response to South Carolina’s ban on the machines. But he went further to describe the state law as an unfunded mandate from the state for local sheriffs, a burden on the overstretched departments which had to assign officers and manage records without extra funding.

The attorney talked about Medford’s sterling record as a police officer and deputy sheriff and his modest apartment in Weaverville. “He rented a little apartment and wore the clothes on his back, even when he went from an income of $25,000 per year up to $125,000 in his last year as sheriff.” [This to establish that he could afford to lose $90,000 per year at Harrah’s.] Lindsay described Medford’s hard work “24/7” as a sheriff, his serious health issues and constant pain which required prescription drugs and finally an implant, and the fact that the only relief he could find from the rigors of office and chronic hurt was to gamble.

Lindsay asserted that the reason small store owners had to violate the law and make illegal pay-offs to gambling customers was that if they stayed within the law no one would play the machines. He said that many mom-0n-pop stores depended on in come from the machines to stay in business. [The law limited winnings to $10 worth of store credit per day. This is a fascinating line of reasoning: Medford permitted illegal gambling in order to help small businessmen.]

As to the government’s assertion that Medford organized the video poker operators in the county by assigning them locations, Lindsay explained that the organization was to prevent operators from engaging in bidding wars for placement of machines. “Say one operator was offering stores a 50-50 split. Another might come along and offer 60-40. Bobby Medford didn’t want operators to be moving machines around the county.” [Another fascinating defense. He’s admitting restraint of trade, which isn’t legal.]

At one point Lindsay asserted that most of the witnesses in the government’s case had been convicted of crimes and that the government had offered them reduced time in prison “if they will say what the prosecution tells them to say.”

Judge Ellis immediately intervened. “Are you going to introduce evidence to that effect?” [See more about this odd interruption at the end of this post.]

“Yes,” was Lindsay’s reply.

In the end, Lindsay said that the “old man” Medford was a better investigator than administrator and suggested that the 350-person department was just too much for him to handle. Then asked that the jury find him innocent.

Next up was Attorney Paul Bidwell, representing Guy Penland.

Penland started out by assuring the jurors that crimes had been committed “things that were wrongful,” but he immediately took care to separate his client from Medford. “Behind me there are two separate people.” He noted that the prosecution had two Assistant Attorneys and an FBI agent while Medford had two attorneys, but he and Penland were facing all of that alone. “In this room it’s just Guy and me as far as I’m concerned.”

He explained that Guy was a volunteer, a man who all his life had wanted to be a police man. He painted a picture of a kindly old man who never had much education but late in life got a General Equivalency Diploma and went through officer training in order to become a Deputy Sheriff under Medford, only to pick up a D.U.I. and have his certification revoked.

But he still wanted to be a cop and Medford, with his unfunded mandate to register machines, needed help. So he enlisted Penland as a volunteer to help with that onerous task.

Unfortunately, Penland was just too nice a guy and got duped by Johnny Harrison and a video poker machine salesman named Jerry Pennington [who has also pled guilty in an associated case.] According to Bidwell, his client was just being helpful to Pennington, in finding locations for machines, because he was an old man “who knew everybody.” When Penland used his sheriff’s department gear to “run a tag” which exposed an undercover officer who was investigating illegal gaming, Penland was just “being helpful,” not obstructing justice.

Bidwell concluded that “The star witnesses for the government in this case are criminals … beyond those witnesses there is very little evidence at all. The evidence is going to fail to show that there was any protection of operators. The evidence will fail to show any connection between money to the sheriff’s department and failure of enforcement. You will find that Guy Penland is innocent.”

The jury was excused for the day at about 5:45 p.m. After the jury exited, Judge Ellis turned to Lindsay. “Mr. Lindsay, it appeared that were saying that the prosecutors were subborning perjury.”

Lindsay attempted to defend his characterization as simply indicating that the witnesses had reason to color their testimony because they were getting reduced sentences.

Ellis retorted sharply, “But that’s not what you said.” He asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Corey Ellis [no relation] for his opinion and the prosecutor quoted Lindsay from his notes, and agreed that Lindsay had done exactly that.

Judge Ellis said, “When I was on that side of these proceedings [meaning, when he was a prosecutor] I would have hit the ceiling if you said that.”

Lindsay apologized and suggested that he had misstated himself in the heat of his defense. The judge told him not to let that happen again, then ended the proceedings at 5:50 p.m.

As an aside, sitting back and looking at the courtroom scene one can’t avoid noticing that the players are mostly male and white. It is no wonder that people of color feel closed out of the justice system, and women need not apply. The five women in the room include two jurors, one of Medford’s attorneys, the assistant clerk and the court reporter. There is one black juror.

Slow as thick ketchup

The long-awaited public corruption trial of Buncombe County’s former sheriff, Bobby Medford, has commenced with a tedious day of jury selection. Seventy potential jurors were called from throughout the Western District with at least one traveling 150 miles to make a court appearance.

Judge Thomas Selby Ellis III, who refers to himself as “Tim,” announced at the outset that he had excused one juror due to recent serious medical issues. After introductory comments and delivering a brief overview of the federal charges, Ellis sent the jury pool to a meeting room to complete multi-page questionnaires and accorded them an hour for the task.

After an ensuing lunch break, the prosecutors and defense attorneys were handed thick folios containing copies of the completed questionnaires while Ellis was presumably reviewing them in chambers. At 2 p.m. the trial resumed. Ten jurors were dismissed out of hand with agreement from all parties, based on their written answers, and the judge commenced one-by-one interviews with the remaining 59.

Ellis questioned each potential juror to clarify answers, to ascertain whether each felt she or he could evaluate the evidence presented in the court room without bias, and, importantly, whether each entertained any strong feelings about gambling or video poker.

At 5:40 p.m. proceedings were concluded for the day with only 25 interviews complete. Jury selection will continue this morning at 9 a.m.

“Now it begins. Let it begin.”

Today I’ll be in a federal courtroom covering the trial of Bobby Medford. My intent is to follow this one gavel-to-gavel and file frequent updates here. At the same time, this is the final week of my campaign for county commission. Hoo boy!

Judge Thomas Selby Ellis III has promised that jury selection will be swift and that opening arguments will begin before adjournment today. Back atcha later.

(The title of this post seems appropriate to me, excerpted from John Lennon’s throw-away dittie “Clean-up Time.”"

Who shot the sheriff? Medford and me

Progressive groups endorse candidates on WNC ballot

Often the best way to select candidates with whom you are unfamiliar is to look at who is supporting the candidates. The following endorsements are by generally progressive groups in the county and state,

Buncombe County Board of Commissioners
Cecil Bothwell (endorsed Obama early)
(endorsed by National Organization for Women, Sierra Club, Buncombe County Green Party, Democracy for America-Asheville, Progressive Democrats of America)

Holly Jones
(endorsed by Sierra Club, Democracy for America-Asheville, Progressive Democrats of America)
***
U.S. Senate Jim Neal (endorsed Obama early)
(endorsed by Democracy for America-Asheville, Blue America PAC, Black Political Caucus of Charlotte-Mecklenburg
***
Governor - Richard Moore (first governor candidate to endorse Obama)
(endorsed by Equality NC
***
Lieutenant Governor - Dan Besse
(endorsed by Sierra Club, Democracy for America-Asheville, Durham People’s Alliance, Progressive Democrats of North Carolina, ccnc.jpg Conservation Council of North Carolina, Sierra Club)
—-OR—
Lieutenant Governor - Hampton Dellinger
(endorsed by NC AFL-CIO, Char-Meck Black Political Caucus, NARAL, Durham People’s Alliance)
***
Auditor- Beth A. Wood
(endorsed by The North Carolina State AFL-CIO, Durham People’s Alliance Political Action Committee, N.C. Academy of Trial Lawyers)
***
Commissioner of Insurance - Wayne Goodwin
(endorsed by Democracy for America-Asheville, Equality NC, Black Political Caucus of Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina Association of Educators, N.C. Academy of Trial Lawyers, United Transportation Union, The Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People)
***
Commissioner of Labor - Robin Anderson
(endorsed by N.C. Academy of Trial Lawyers, Black Political Caucus of Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Raleigh-Wake Citizens Association)
***
Superintendent of Public Instruction -June Atkinson
(endorsed by AFL-CIO of N.C., NARAL North Carolina, Black Political Caucus of Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Raleigh-Wake Citizens Association, Simkins PAC, Planned Parenthood Action Fund of Central North Carolina, Equality NC)
***
State Treasurer - Senator Janet Cowell
(endorsed by Equality NC, NARAL, Sierra Club, Democracy for America, Conservation Council of NC, Black Political Caucus of Charlotte-Mecklenburg, AFL-CIO of N.C., N.C. Academy of Trial Lawyers, Emily’s List, NASW -PACE )
***

(Back of the ballot, non-partisan judgeships)

Court of Appeals - James Wynn
(endorsed by North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers Endorsement, North Carolina Association of Educators Endorsement, Wake County Voter Coalition, The Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, Raleigh Wake Citizens Association, NC Police Benevolent Association, Black Political Caucus of Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Equality North Carolina, AFL-CIO)

Court of Appeals - Kristin Ruth
(endorsed by North Carolina Association of Educators, North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys, North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers,North Carolina AFL-CIO, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Black Political Caucus, Raleigh Wake Citizens Association, Durham People’s Alliance, Equality NC PAC, Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, Simkins PAC -Greensboro)

Why I endorsed Obama

GM crops fail their own test

If you’re among the many gardeners and farmers who have entertained suspicions that corporate claims for Genetically Modified crops were overblown, congrats. You were right. Recent research has established that crop yields fall when farmers switch to GM seeds. The only thing that gets greener is corporate profits.

Exposed: The Great GM Crops Myth

By Geoffrey Lean

Genetic modification actually cuts the productivity of crops, an authoritative new study shows, undermining repeated claims that a switch to the controversial technology is needed to solve the growing world food crisis.

Read more, click here.