Month: May 2006

Newly empanelled jurors in the Roscoe Dixon trial heard opening statements
from both the prosecution and the defense on Wednesday. And, by virtue of digitalized audio and video recordings (which chief prosecutor Tim DiScenza kept calling “tapes,” despite himself), they also got an eyeful and earful of how influence peddling works in the state legislature.

Dixon himself summed it all up on an undercover FBI video that got both a morning and an afternoon showing. The former state senator and Tennessee Waltz indictee was shown sitting at a desk, via a camera concealed in FBI informant Tim Willis’ briefcase, as he discoursed back in 2003, Godfather-style, to Willis and accused bag man Barry Myers about how to get a children’s dental clinic accredited as a TennCare provider.

“Remember this,” the grainy black-and-white image of a shirt-sleeved Dixon says. “This is a fight over money, and who gets it.”

The clinic in question was a legitimate chain operation, headquartered in Colorado, which had hired Willis to lobby for it in Nashville. According to the prosecution, Dixon and Myers, his protégé and factotum, got wind of Willis’ new client and asked him if there was money in it for them – meaning, in legislative shorthand, they were offering their influence on behalf of the company. For a price.

Willis had already run afoul of the law by submitting bogus invoices as a consultant to the Juvenile Court Clerk’s office, and the FBI had turned him. Hence the briefcase camera — as well as a backup audio wire worn on the person of Willis, now a full-time Bureau informant.

And hence, too, the beginnings of the Tennessee Waltz scandal, as the FBI. using the co-opted (and well-compensated) Willis as their stalking horse, adjudged Dixon and Myers as “predicated” – meaning, in FBI jargon, predisposed toward corruption and thereby eligible to be targeted in a sting.

Even before the FBI bothered to set up its sting through the now infamous sham computer outfit E-Cycle Management, they were getting a laundry list of other possible “predicates” from their electronic surveillance of Dixon and Myers. Willis was told that Kathyn Bowers, later a state senator and then a member of the House of Representatives, would help on the TennCare matter and would need a cut. (One of the prosecution videos shown in court documented a car trip made by Willis and the unwitting Myers to deliver a cash-stuffed envelope to Bowers.)

John Ford, he of myriad other scandals (including, later on, the Tennessee Waltz affair itself), was suggested by Dixon as a possible helping hand on getting the dental operation accredited, but Willis objected, on behalf of his clients, that state Senator Ford was “too pushy.”

Back there in 2003, Myers talked up a $10,000 total budget and kept nominating House Speaker Pro Tem Lois DeBerry of Memphis, among others, as someone who would cooperate and needed a cut. DeBerry, though, was not mentioned on follow-up recordings and apparently never got involved.

Others whose names got dropped were Memphis businessman Karl Schledwitz (as the owner of property coveted by the dental clinic and as a friend of Governor Phil Bredesen), mega-developer Ron Belz, and influential Shelby County developer Jackie Welch. None of these were mentioned as potential partners in fraud; the principals were just feeling their oats and bragging about their big-time connections.

Amazingly, Myers made frequent mention of how he and Dixon (who, at this early period, anyhow, left it to Myers to actually collect the FBI cash doled out by Willis) needed to avoid anything so indiscreet as “that Rickey Peete shit,” alluding to the city councilman’s conviction back in the ‘80s for collecting a developer’s under-the-table cash – a transaction duly recorded on tape.

But there they are, in full range of Willis’s briefcase camera, watching as Willis heaps hundred dollar bills on a table — $4,000 in all, money which Myers, a Tennessee Waltz indictee and a cooperating government witness himself, said was later split between himself and Dixon, his mentor.

And that, says the government, was how the Tennessee Waltz, which later came to involve several other state government figures, got started.

A chastened Myers was called to the stand Wednesday to corroborate the government’s account. Why was he doing it?

“Because it’s the right thing to do and I want to correct a wrong that’s been done in my life. I made a mistake,” Myers managed in a reasonable facsimile of sincerity.

Both he and interrogator DiScenza made a point of saying that no deal was involved in the testimony of Myers, who has pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing.

Chief defense attorney Coleman Garrett had made a vigorous, even compelling opening argument that E-Cycle, not the accused, had been involved in a criminal enterprise, entrapping innocent men., “Senator Dixon ought to be suing the government for malicious prosecution,” Garrett said.

But the defense attorney’s later cross-examination of FBI agent Brian Burns, who had been the first prosecution witness, seemed to meander aimlessly and never managed to do much damage to the government’s account of things.

Both sides will go again bright and early Thursday morning. Myers was still on the stand at quitting time Wednesday and, as the government’s key witness, will surely be the occasion for a vigorous cross-examination by Garrett.

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When former state senator Roscoe Dixon goes on trial this week, he may draw some lessons from the most famous political corruption trial in recent Memphis history.

Charged with bribery, Dixon is the first of the Memphis defendants to stand trial in Operation Tennessee Waltz. Jury selection began Tuesday in federal court, with opening statements expected on Wednesday. Dixon’s fate could influence the thinking of other defendants, including Michael Hooks, Kathryn Bowers, Calvin Williams, and John Ford.

The trial is the most closely watched political corruption trial in Memphis since 1993, when former congressman Harold Ford Sr., the brother of John Ford, was found not guilty on federal bank-fraud charges. It was the culmination of a 10-year investigation by federal prosecutors of Ford and the banking empire of brothers Jake and C.H. Butcher Jr. of Knoxville. Ford was actually tried twice, but the first trial in 1990 ended in a mistrial because of juror misconduct.

Although the cases are different, Dixon and his attorneys face some of the same circumstances that confronted Ford 13 years ago: extensive pretrial publicity and media coverage, racial overtones, an experienced team of prosecutors led by assistant U.S. attorney Tim DiScenza (who was not involved in the Ford trial although he was on the staff at the time), and the decision about whether or not to let Dixon take the stand.

No one made better news copy than Harold Ford when he was under attack. After he was indicted, he accused U.S. attorney Hickman Ewing, then head of the office for Western Tennessee, of leading a political vendetta. The two men exchanged sharp words in a parking lot of the federal building, although they never squared off in the courtroom because Ewing assistant Dan Clancy tried the case.

Ford played to his constituents, insisting that having the trial in Knoxville instead of Memphis would eliminate prospective black jurors. When the trial was moved to Memphis, he kept up the pressure. The jury for the first trial included eight blacks and four whites. After testimony was completed and jurors had begun their deliberations, presiding judge Odell Horton declared a mistrial because juror contact with the defense team had made “a mockery” of justice.

Jurors for the second trial, three years later, were chosen from the Jackson, Tennessee, area, once again amid protests that Ford was not getting a fair shake. The sequestered jury included 11 whites and one black, which seemed to confirm Ford’s fears. But the congressman and his Washington, D.C., attorneys played the hand they were dealt and won the case.

Ford was a textbook study in self-control. He wore the same conservative suit every day of the trial, chatted pleasantly with reporters, and showed little expression to the jury. And in a departure from his first trial, he took the stand to testify. In a dramatic confrontation with Clancy, he “took the blows” about his financial irresponsibility, while also painting a sympathetic picture of himself as a hard-working son, father, and businessman. The government, meanwhile, relied mainly on a succession of bank examiners and FBI auditors to make its case. After weeks of charts and financial details that strained the jury’s attention span, Ford’s testimony was the turning point.

Dixon, characterized as “a plodder” by his political associates, lacks Ford’s charisma and compelling personal story, should he decide to testify. In two high-profile federal court trials in Memphis last year, defendants who declined to testify got mixed results. Football booster Logan Young was convicted, while former Shelby County medical examiner O.C. Smith went free when the jury was unable to reach a verdict.

Dixon unsuccessfully tried to have his case dismissed on grounds that the FBI’s bogus computer company E-Cycle Management targeted only black legislators. All of the Memphis defendants, and eight of the 10 Tennessee Waltz defendants to date, are black.

Dixon’s biggest problem, of course, is the evidence against him, including tapes describing his assistance in getting a bill passed for E-Cycle and his share of $9,500 in payoffs. In the Ford trial, there were no tapes and jurors said they were unclear about exactly what he did. “Taking the blows” could be fatal for Dixon.

There have been a series of well-attended local forums featuring contenders for the open 9th District congressional seat being vacated this year by Democratic U.S Senate hopeful Harold Ford Jr. Even the first of these, back in January, made it obvious that the field of candidates would be large and accomplished — so much so that several local observers have actually bemoaned the presence of so much fresh talent in the race.

As both radio talk-show host Leon Gray and restaurateur/former city councilman John Vergos, noted, it’s a shame that some of these up-and-coming new faces didn’t choose instead to offer themselves as County Commission candidates this year or as City Council candidates next year.

(Answer: On that latter score, at least, some of them well may.)

Three of the aforesaid candidate forums, under the general sponsorship of the Black Ministerial Association, were presided over by the Rev. LaSimba Gray, who made no secret of his wish that a consensus black candidate could be found to prevent, as he saw it, the loss, after 32 years, of African-American representation.

That contention necessarily upset several other people, including state Senator Steve Cohen, a white whose legislative track record (including staunch support of civil rights) and long-term Democratic credentials have made him an instant favorite in the race.
At the last forum, held two weeks ago under the sponsorship of the Shelby County Democratic Party and assorted Democratic clubs, Cohen (and most — but not all — of the others) asserted that fidelity to the needs of the predominantly black 9th district did not require possession of a specific skin color.

This week we consider not quite half the extent field — all Democrats and all African Americans — in no particular order:

Ralph White: The self-styled old dog amid this group of predominantly young pups has shown he can learn new tricks. Back in January, during the first cattle-call forum for candidates, the Bloomfield Full Gospel Baptist pastor muffed a couple of obvious questions concerning the war in Iraq and legislation affecting union members.

He seemed buffaloed even to be asked about Iraq and pleaded, in effect, nolo contendere. On the second question, White launched an extended philippic against corruption in unions. All well and good, if that’s what he believed, but this was a union hall, and the question had been aimed at the economic betterment and bargaining rights of workers.

White has shored up his debating skills since then and has answered most questions on point and astutely, backing and filling to get on record his own critique of the increasingly unpopular war. And he has declined opportunities to demagogue such issues as drug abuse, gay marriage, and abortion — despite maintaining his conservative, church-based position on the latter.

Nikki Tinker: The Pinnacle Airlines attorney whose race beganlast year with a prefabricated claim of “frontrunner” status in the Washington D.C. political tipsheet The Hill, has, like White, experienced a learning curve. Having realized that she couldn’t finesse either the question of local roots or the issue of issues, the young Alabama transplant and has learned to emphasize her up-by-the-bootstraps personal saga as the daughter of a hard-working single mother, and to fix her portrait as a corporation lawyer within that Horatio Alger frame.

Her impressive war-chest — currently pushing the $300,000 mark — is a testament both to her early start and her networking, but, while it certainly constitutes an advantage overall, it is also vulnerable to criticism of the sort blogger Frank Burhart (PolarDonkey.blogspot.com) has levied against it — as stemming from too many upscale, corporate (read: non-Democratic) sources.

A key point in Tinker’s resume, of course, is that she is the only woman in the race — a fact that allowed her the best line of any candidate during the recent Democratic Party forum. In response to the “race” question, Tinker brought down the house by saying, “This race should not be about race. It should be about gender.”

Lee Harris: A professor at the University of Memphis Law School, Harris quipped at the most recent forum that, at 27, his age was “the average for a starting congressman in this city.” (Harold Ford Sr., was 28 when he won his first congressional race in 1974, and that Harold Ford Jr. was 26 when he won the right to succeed his father in 1996.)

Harris’ point is well taken — though it may be more relevant to building some name recognition for a political future than to his chances for success this year. Certainly the young lawyer, who rarely gives knee-jerk answers, has spoken well and independently at the various forums, and he has been thoughtful and innovative on issues like pre-K education.

But Harris has raised little money and has limited prospects for catching up with his better-heeled rivals. In the meantime, he has played a good game of Small Ball. Though his headquarters opening on South Main was a relatively modest affair, his timing of it — in the middle of last week’s Trolley Night — maximized his walk-in crowds.

Ed Stanton: Among those candidates given a serious chance of catching Cohen, Stanton probablyheads the list. Son of a well-liked longtime public servant, lawyer Stanton has solid backing from his FedEx employers. Well-spoken and armed with a bagful of well-thought-out issues — especially on health care and economic redevelopment — the clean-cut Stanton hits the semiotic middle between the 9th District’s African-American majority and the crossover white vote he may have a chance of attracting.

More than any other candidate, Stanton has balanced fund-raising success with high-intensity campaigning. He has done well at all the 9th District forums so far — figuring as everybody’s first or second choice both by word-of-mouth and by informal straw-poll results.

Stanton is firing all barrels available to a campaigner, including an artful and illuminating e-mail newsletter sent out to a wide canvas of media, grass-roots, and political recipients.

Joe Ford Jr.: Ford has to be reckoned as a player, even if the California entertainment lawyer, who relocated here this year for purposes of making the congressional race, has the same problem that Tinker has in having to manufacture some instant grass roots.

Ford’s task is made easier, though, by virtue of his being the son of a well-known Shelby County commissioner as well as by being a member of the best-known extended political family in Shelby County. And the engaging, somewhat preppy Ford has not been bashful about playing that trump card, contending at various forums that his family background gives him a leg up in making connections for the people of the 9th District.

To balance that, Ford has indicated a willingness to part company with his most noted relative on various issues (e.g., the war in Iraq, which he opposes) and on the priority voters should give the eventual Democratic nominee over the independent candidacy of his cousin Jake Ford.

Ford is somewhat handicapped in his race by the demands of his business, which caused him to miss the Democratic Party debate and has had him back and forth to California.

Tyson Pratcher: This native Memphian’s status as an aide to New York senator Hillary Clinton has provided him with both his major claim to be taken seriously and the chief drawback to getting his campaign off the launching pad.

Pratcher wowed attendees at the first forum in January by citing specific legislation he worked on in tandem with his illustrious then-employer. And his deft touch and encyclopedic knowledge of Capitol Hill protocol easily skirted the perils of name-dropping per se.

But Pratcher’s duties up as Clinton’s state director, kept him occupied — and out of 9th District campaign mode — for the next several months. He was further set back by a Memphis car-jacking in which his database was stolen. Though his fund-raising has him among the leaders, Pratcher’s chances of winning are largely dependent on the Hail Mary prospect of one or both of the famous Clintons coming down to campaign on his behalf.

Race should not matter, Pratcher said at the Democratic Party forum. But the follicle-challenged candidate went on to quip, “It just so happens that the best candidate happens to be a black man with a bald head!”

Next week: We’ve just begun to cite. More 9th District candidates, including several household names and some impressive campaigners.

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