Convicted ex-Portage mayor continues push for new trial
Chicago Tribune
April 04, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-motion-new-trial-st-0405-story.html
Convicted former Portage Mayor James Snyder is again appealing to a federal judge to order a new trial if two guilty verdicts should stand.
Snyder’s defense attorneys filed a motion Wednesday asking that if Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen doesn’t acquit the former mayor of bribery and obstructing the IRS, he should order a new trial. Snyder’s attorneys cited perceived errors, including discovery issues, length of the trial and alleged prosecutorial misconduct, that warrant a new trial.
Defense attorney Jackie Bennett Jr. said of all the discovery materials prosecutors provided, only 1 percent of that was relevant to the case, but caused the defense “to search through a titanic amount of information to prepare his defense.”
“Now that the 1 percent of documents relevant to the case has been made clear, the interests of justice would be served by requiring a new trial in which the parties can focus on those documents,” Bennett said.
Bennett accused Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson of misconduct for commenting to the jury that a potential witness had invoked their 5th Amendment right not to testify. Bennett said “that comment – made after the evidence had closed – was completely inappropriate.”
In February, a federal jury convicted Snyder of bribery and obstructing the IRS, bringing an end to his 19-day trial. Snyder was convicted of taking a $13,000 bribe in exchange for contracts to sell five garbage trucks to the city, and using a shell company to hide income and assets from the IRS while owning back personal and business taxes.
Prosecutors say that when Snyder ran for mayor in 2011, he told residents he planned to automate Portage’s trash pickup, but wound up steering contracts for $712,882.50 and another for $425,355 to Great Lakes Peterbilt, which was then owned by Robert and Steve Buha.
Once those contracts were awarded, Great Lakes Peterbilt paid Snyder $13,000.
A second count said that Snyder, while owing tens of thousands of dollars to the IRS, funneled income through a shell company, and failed to disclose any of those assets to the IRS.
A jury found Snyder not guilty of allegedly soliciting a bribe to award two firms a city towing contract.
Van Bokkelen in March gave federal prosecutors an additional two weeks to respond to the former mayor’s motion for acquittal and request for a new trial, over the objection of Snyder’s defense.
Snyder’s defense attorneys filed a request for a new trial and made a renewed push for a judge to acquit the former mayor of bribery and obstructing the IRS. The defense argued that by not calling two men who paid Snyder $13,000 for what Snyder said was consulting services, after a deal to sell Portage garbage trucks, the jury did not get to hear a full telling of the events, according to court documents.
No comments:
Post a Comment