Former Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill and plan commissioner D'Angelo Lee both were concerned with ethics and took pains to follow the law during the time prosecutors say they were hustling for bribes, their attorneys said Tuesday.
Jurors on Tuesday heard Hill telling Lee on a wiretapped phone call that he should recuse himself from voting on zoning matters in which he had a financial interest. Lee was Hill's appointee to the plan commission.
"What he's talking to Lee about is following the rules," Hill's attorney, Ray Jackson, told FBI Special Agent Allen Wilson during cross examination Tuesday.
"That's what he says on this day," Wilson said.
Prosecutors contend that Hill, his wife, Sheila, Lee and others leaned on developers for bribes. In exchange, the government says Hill and Lee offered their support - and their votes - to those who paid, and stymied projects of those who didn't.
This week, the defense has labored to combat the hours of government wiretaps on which the defendants appear to be demanding bribe payments, with Hill getting regular updates.
Jackson said Tuesday that Hill's respect for the rules was on display again when he told Sheila Farrington Hill on a 2005 wiretap that he could only accept a BMW from her if she swore "under oath" that it was a legal retainer for him. Hill is an attorney.
Wilson disagreed that Farrington, Hill's mistress at the time whom he later married, paid for the car with her own money.
"The money for that is coming from Southwest Housing," Wilson testified, referring to Brian Potashnik's development company. Potashnik has pleaded guilty to giving bribes to Hill and Lee and is expected to testify against them.
Another developer who prosecutors say was targeted for shakedowns was James R. "Bill" Fisher.
He blew the whistle on Hill and Lee's alleged extortion attempts in 2004. Prime evidence, he told agents, was a voicemail that Lee left him. On it, Lee asked Fisher to give $2,500 to Hill's birthday party fund.
Fisher refused and, according to the government, saw his projects fail at the City Council.
Douglas Greene, Lee's attorney, argued with Wilson on Tuesday about the nature of Hill's birthday party, insisting it was a "political fundraiser."
"A birthday party," Wilson corrected.
Greene then asked Wilson if what Lee asked Fisher to do is akin to golf tournament organizers soliciting sponsorships of individual holes.
"I don't golf," Wilson said.
Several politicians showed up for Hill's November 2004 fete, Greene said, including then-Mayor Laura Miller. The defense has repeatedly pointed out that Miller accepted tens of thousands more in campaign contributions from Potashnik than Hill did, yet is not charged with wrongdoing.
Campaign donations are legal "as long as they're legitimate contributions and they're reported correctly," Wilson testified.
"She voted in favor of Mr. Potashnik after he donated that money?" Greene asked. "That's not bribery?"
"I didn't find anything illegal," the agent replied.
