The Bingo Trial 8-4-2011

Sandra Walden

Viewed: 5260

Posted by: BSmith
Date: Aug 04 2011 10:09 AM

8:06 August 4.

 

Mr. Clark for Larry Means is proceeding.  How many times in your life have you been misunderstood or you have been misunderstood by someone else?  I suggest that the prosecution has misunderstood or assumed that something meant something else in regards to Larry Means.  You are being asked to rely on assumptions for all of these charges.

 

I ask you that instead of assumptions, you listen to those conversations between McGregor and Means, Means and Pouncy, and I suggest to you that you will not hear Means request a contribution in exchange for a vote, nor did he get a contribution.

 

On behalf of my partner and the Means I too want to thank you for your time, thank your employers and your families for your service.

 

As I said the prosecutions case against Larry Means is based on one phone call between Larry Means and Milton McGregor and 2 very brief phone calls between Larry Means and Jennifer Pouncy.

 

J146, listen to it and look at the transcripts.  There is nothing on that recording that even come close to a bribe.  Thank goodness we have that recording.  In regard to Pouncy, unfortunately we don’t have any recordings, just her word.

 

Five Principals our Justice system is based on:

The indictment is not evidence, presumption of innocence, burden of proof is on the prosecution (proof beyond a reasonable doubt),  Unanimous verdict,

 

Let’s look at something Mr. Kang said yesterday.  He speaks with authority and seems to be very sure of what he says.  Mr. Kang began with the statement that the motive of each defendant was to make money…There is no evidence that Larry Means had any interest in making any money or that he was going to make any money by voting on this bill.

 

I don’t think there is any doubt that a major issue in the 2010 cycle and a major issue in the 2010 legislature was SB380 and how it turned out. 

 

Mr. Clark is listing the witnesses that the government put on and through all of these witnesses the prosecution was attempting to lay out what their impression was of this case.   Only 1 of the 12,000 telephone conversations was Larry Means referred to. 

 

The first month or two of this trial there was no mention of Larry Means.  No evidence that he was at any of the summit meetings, the Garret’s Restaurant meeting or any of the meetings they are basing the conspiracy on.  But the prosecution says there was a conspiracy in getting the bill passed.  There is nothing wrong with working to get a bill passed. 

There is no evidence that Larry Means knew of a conspiracy or participated in a conspiracy to get SB380 passed. 

 

Supporting your constituency is not a crime.  This is how it is supposed to be.  Means was concerned about the people of Etowah County.  

 

Gilley, Massey and Pouncy plead guilty, they committed a crime.  Just because they offered something doesn’t mean that the ones they offered something too does not mean that the one that made the offer to is guilty.

 

Listen to all of the evidence, both sides, and you think about where do you have a reasonable doubt.  The evidence reflected that Larry Means has supported gambling legislation through out his career.  Massey and Gilley testified that there was a company interested in putting a gambling facility in Etowah County.  There was legislation passed as a local constitutional amendment. There was ongoing litigation in 2010 that had not resolved the situation.

 

These are the considerations that Larry Means would have had about SB380.  The bill that was in existence on February 16 was entirely different  that the bill that eventually passed the Senate.  February 16, Etowah County was not included in the bill.

 

Mr. Franklin made the suggestion that Ms. Pouncy said Sen. Means would loose his basic support if he voted for  SB380.  Listen to the tape.  You had two groups in Etowah County.  He represented all of the people in Etowah County,  There was also a group that wanted to put a facility in Etowah  County.  Larry Means wanted the people to have the right to vote.  Larry Means had polls that showed that more than 60% of the people wanted to right to vote.

 

Let’s talk about the recording between McGregor and Means.  There is not any evidence that Means found out the offer to Senator Preuitt.  Kang and Franklin both said yesterday that Means called Milton McGregor.  Thank goodness for the government’s recordings.  Look at the tape.. How does it begin?  It begins with the phone ringing, Larry Means saying hello, then a few lines down Mr. McGregor says well disregard my message that I left on your cellphone.  Larry Means didn’t call Milton McGregor, McGregor called Means.  Listen to J146, read the transcript.

 

Look at the phone logs.  Did the prosecution think that you would not listen to J146 or that we would not listen to J146.  Take time to listen and read.

 

Listen and put yourself in the position of folks talking to each other.  Larry talked about Bob Riley and how Riley had failed to keep his promise about resources for training at the Goodyear Plant in Etowah County.  He talked about Patsy Riley and her actions at the rally held here in Montgomery.  Larry as a Democrat and got a kick out of needling Governor Riley.

 

Larry Means did ask for support, he did have opposition and was ultimately defeated in his 2010 run for the Senate.   Larry and Milton McGregor had been friends for a long time.  There is nothing wrong with that. 

 

There is simply no evidence that you could reach the conclusion that a bribe was offered.  There was no exhortion in the conversation.  You listen to that tape Ladies and Gentlemen there is nothing on that tape that supports that charge. 

 

Candidates have to raise the money to support their campaigns.  In order to raise the money they have to ask for support.  There is nothing wrong with that, that is our system.   Larry Means had supported gambling legislation in the past. 

 

There is nothing related to the contributions that Larry Means got in early February.  Larry Means did not vote on the BIR.  The bill at that time was heavily favoring McGregor, it did not include Etowah County.  That changed in the bill that passed.

 

Do you remember who Pouncy said recommended her to Massey?  Terry Spicer.  What had Massey and Spicer been doing for the last 10 years.  Massey had been paying Spicer, he had been bribing Spicer for 10 years. 

 

On the day that Pouncy came to Means office, remember I showed her a diagram of the office suite.  This is where that conversation that she described occurred.  She said she got a text message from Mr. Means, there is not a text message in evidence, she did tell the FBI that she saw Mr. Means in the hall and asked her to come by, later she said that was wrong.  Anyway, she said that meeting is where Larry Means asked her for a campaign contribution.  There is nothing wrong with that.  Ms Pouncy assumed an amount, there was no mention of if I get this contribution I will support the bill, he did say that he was having an opponent and it was going to cost more to run.  There is nothing wrong with that.

 

Pouncy said that Means said Coker was going to help.  She told the agent and she testified to that.  Pouncy said that she told Massey that Larry wanted this campaing contribution for his vote.  Remember she said those were her words, that Larry Means had not said that.  Pouncy said she told Massey that , Means did not say it.

 

We know how easy it is for Massey to twist things from the way they are to what he wants them to be.  Massey’s words were shake down.  Massey had not even talked to Senator Means.  Pouncy said she did not use those words in reference to Larry Means.  That is that guilty mind that unfortunately Jennifer Pouncy was beginning to acquire.

 

Gilley said he never even met Larry Means.  Pouncy went to Means office the next day.  When they say do we mean the same thing, I suggest to you they were talking about a campaign contribution.  Jennifer Pouncy testified that she had a was of misunderstanding what people are saying.

 

It is not your job to solve a mystery.  It is your job to decide if you have a reasonable doubt. 

 

Mr. Clark is telling a story about interpreting a conversations in two different ways.  Two different assumptions of what the words mean.  Pouncy assumed one thing but Larry Means simply meant a campaign contribution to mean just that.  A campaign contribution toward is his campaign and not in exchange for his vote on anything.

 

There is one thing that Pouncy did not misunderstand.  She admitted to ABI Agent Herman that she knew that Massey wasn’t going to make it unless there was some string attached and Pouncy was upset set and she was trying to make that deal fly.

 

Franklin talked about how campaign contributions had been promised, the candidates hounded that person to get the contributions.  You remember what was said.  I think you will agree that after that event there were no calls from Means to Massey or Pouncy.  There was no campaign contribution made. 

 

Larry Means did not make an illegal request nor did he promise to vote on legislation in exchange for a contribution.  Just because someone has a conversation with someone involved in a conspiracy doesn’t put them in the conspiracy.  They have to willfully and knowingly participate in the conspiracy.

 

There was not mention of Larry Means in that outline of concealment and there is no evidence that Larry Means participated in any efforts of concealment.

 

There is no evidence of any intent of fraud. 

 

On the BIR Larry Means did not abstain, he just did not vote.  Means didn’t support the bill as it stood in its original form.  It didn’t include Etowah County.   SB380 later passed with Etowah County in a better position than it was in the BIR vote.

 

The prosecution has also tried to link Means to this conspiracy by playing some conversations between Pouncy and Massey in their devious tries to get to Senator Preuitt.  Look at J186, listen, read it carefully. It is not there.  Means was responding to an inquiry about how could they reach Jim Preuitt.  I submit to you that Larry Means was just being helpful in trying to give them the information on how to reach Jim Preuitt.

 

All of us are going to remember this case, but you all are going to remember this case for the rest of your lives.  I urge you to give careful consideration to the facts as you make this verdict. 

 

This trial is not a game and you have a job where your decision won’t balance out.  I urge you to not compromise on your doubts.  Remember The Government wins when justice is done.  I say to you that when you return a verdict on not guilty on all counts against Larry Means.  Thank your very much for your attention.

 

Proof  beyond a reasonable doubt.  Mr. Wise is now presenting the closing for Jim Preuitt.   

 

The Judge is going to tell you that if you find that a witness has lied about anything on the stand that you can through out his or her entire testimony. 

 

Mr. Franklin told you that we were going to get up here and we were going to tell you that Gilley, Massey and Pouncy were liars.  I am not going to say that they are liars.  I am not going to insult your intelligence.  You saw them.  I am comfortable that you saw all three of them and that your opinion will be reasonable.

 

Mr. Franklin also told you that all of these defendants were colleagues of Mr. Gilley.  Mr. Gilley, tell me when you met Mr. Pruitt.  It was after I was arrested, it was in the courthouse, I was in handcuffs.   Friends?  Colleagues?

 

Pouncy told you that she offered Jim Pruitt 2 million dollars in his office.  If you remember when she first testified she said she couldn’t remember when that was.  And if you remember Mr. Fega played a telephone conversation that refreshed her recollection that she made the offer after the BIR vote.  A conversation with Jarrod Massey refreshed her recollection. 

 

She told the FBI that it was before the BIR vote that she supposedly made the offer of 2 million dollars and on the fist day of the legislative week.  The BIR vote was on March 3.  I showed her a calendar.  We caught her in a lie.  She started crying.  Please ladies and gentlemen of the jury please believe me that I did not intend to make her cry.  Don’t hold that against me or Mr. Preuitt. 

 

Do you remember that she said she did not think Mr. Preuitt heard her, we took a 20 minute break, we came back and she was back on the stand.  I again asked her if she said that she did no think Mr. Preuitt heard her.  She said she did not remember saying that.  I asked her if she couldn’t remember what she said 25 minutes ago?  She said she could not remember what she said 25 minutes ago. 

 

Can you depend on her memory over a year later when she couldn’t remember what she said 25 minutes ago?

 

She didn’t tell Jarrod Massey that she offered  Preuitt 2 million dollars.  She was talking about telling Preuitt that if this bill didn’t pass she was going to loose her job.  That is what she was telling Massey that she didn’t know if Preuitt heard her about.

 

You have got all of their testimony that Jim Preuitt was not about the money.  He didn’t care about the money for his campaign.  You have testimony that Preuitt was always for the gambling bills.  Preuitt was interested in helping his friend Larry Means with Etowah County. 

 

Do you know how much Preuitt got from Milton McGregor?  Do you remember the charts?  Preuitt got zero..

 

Do you remember saying that Gilley said that Mr. Preuitt told Gilley that he did not want his money, that he financed his own campaign.

 

And then, and this was so unfair, the prosecution came in a played one side of a conversation overheard when they were taping another call between Gilley and someone else.  Thirty seconds of a 24 minute conversation, one side of a conversation where you hear Gilley talking about George Jones might come down and buy a truck in a few weeks.   Nothing with Preuitt’s voice on it.  Nothing where Jim Preuitt tells Gilley that he doesn’t want his money.

 

Trucks.  Don’t you think that with all of the resources the government has that if trucks or a truck had been bought by Gilley, Massey or George Jones from Jim Preuitt that they could have found proof of this purchase.  Tag receipts, titles, all sorts of records that they could get,  and nothing has been presented.

 

Pouncy:  End of conversation:  Oh Ronnie something else, you need to know this, Jim Preuitt and his wife found their grandson on the side of the interstate last year where he had committed suicide.  How sick.  Gilley, Massey and Pouncy told you they were playing on his emotions.  How sick…

 

Massey told you he talked in code..how sick.  Here is a man who thinks he is going to be at home Thanksgiving and eating turkey, back in business…how sick..that is the way they are..

 

Where was Gilley, 19 years old flipping houses..Normally I would think that was pretty admirable.  But he learned at an early age how to con people.  Don’t you think he wouldn’t sit on that stand and lie to you and try to con you into thinking he is right and all of these people are guilty.  They don’t even have the thought process to try to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong.

 

Jennifer Pouncy, talking about children.  Ms. James asked her if the FBI told them she wouldn’t be able to hold her child again or see her child again and she said I don’t remember.  You don’t remember…Don’t you think that if someone told you might never see or hold her child again you would remember?  There is a difference between a mother and a father.  I am a father, I have a wife and children, but there is a difference.  Don’t you think a mother would remember if someone told her she wouldn’t ever see or hold her child again?  I don’t remember, I don’t remember.

 

Everybody was on equal footing in the March 30 bill that Jim Preuitt  voted yes on.  No one was given preference in this bill like they were in the BIR.

 

March 22, ain’t nobody promised Jim Preuitt anything. 

 

Gilley, talking to Preuitt on the phone while he is in Harri Anne Smith’s office.

 

Email from Ronnie Gilley to Jarrod Massey, Did Preuitt vote with us?  Why if you were bribing someone for their vote would you need to ask if he voted with us?  Because Jim Preuitt never promised or asked for anything for his vote.

 

Conversation between Preuitt and Gilley when Preuitt was in Harri Anne Smith’s office, March 31, J215, the day after the vote.  Let’s talk about what they said.  The pay-off.  Preuitt tells Mr. Gilley that I think you know we had a couple of decent prior with Jay and then I get back with Coker.  You know we talked about if there is any headway to be made, that if there is anything that could be done to head them off in anyway, that would be possible.  

 

He didn’t say that he talked to Jay Walker and Tom Coker about any trucks.  This is the day after the vote.   He wasn’t talking about anything that had been done for him.  The day after the vote.  He was talking about what could be done to help him with his competition.   The day after the vote…

 

Telephone call between Gilley and Massey on March 2.  Gilley was telling Massey a lie.  He never talked to Jim Preuitt.  I would love to see a toll record where Massey talked to Preuitt on March 2.  He lied…I used that word, sorry.  I would love to see a toll record where Gilley talked to Preuitt on March 2.

 

Preuitt’s interview with the FBI.  He is accused of making a false statement to the FBI..Wise reads the false statement charge…That is the evidence.  That is not a false statement.  No one ever offered anything to Jim Preuitt in exchange for his vote.  That is a true statement.  No one ever offered anything to Jim Preuitt for his vote.  You have got to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that someone offered Jim Preuitt something for his vote.  The evidence is not there.

 

Milton McGregor buying Jim Preuitt’s vote?  They can’t even get off the swing set. 

 

Mr. Gilley:  Never got a commitment from Jim Preuitt on anything.  Never paid for any polls, never offered Jim Preuitt anything.  Never brought country music stars to campaign for him.

 

Jamie Johnson, Jim Preuitt thought Jamie Johnson was a female.  Gilley admitted it was foolish to talk about doing the things for Jim Preuitt that they did.  Gilley says they are going to stay on Jim Preuitt like white on rice..If you’ve got him, why stay on him…because they never had him.

 

I am going to be short in my closing.  I am not going to take all the time. 

 

I would ask you take into consideration who called the witness, which side, their demeanor when they testified.  Did they witness tell the truth?  Did they witness have something to gain or loose in how they testify?  Have they been promised something for their testimony?  Gilley, Massey, Pouncy..

 

Mr. Wise is telling a story to the jury..This story is about a young man trying to fool a blind old man.  The young man had a bird in his hand.  He was going to ask the old man if the bird was dead or alive.  If he said dead, he would let the bird go to fly away, if he said alive, he would kill the bird in his hand.  When he asked the old man, he said that the fate of the bird was in the young man’s hands. 

 

I submit to you that the fate of Jim Preuitt is in your hands. I ask that you return a verdict of not guilty for Jim Preuitt.

 

Gillis is next for Ross, following a fifteen minute break.  He has one hour. 

 

Parkman for Smith will follow him and we will break at 12:30 for lunch.  Parkman is to be finished by then. 

 

Back following break.

 

COVERAGE CONTINUES HERE!!

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