By Ralph Cipriano
Pat Burrell was ejected from the Vince Fumo political corruption trial Thursday morning, after a witness complained that a screen-saver image of the Phillies leftfielder high-fiving his mates after a recent home run had become a courtroom distraction.
An exuberant Phillies fan on the government payroll, in between displaying documents on exhibit, kept flashing the image of Burrell on more than a dozen courtroom computer screens.
"Is it possible to get this image off the screen?" complained the witness, W. Russell Faber, chief clerk of the state Senate, who was not asked whether he was pulling for the Rays in the World Series. "There are bubbles floating on the screen."
Dennis J. Cogan, the lawyer representing Fumo, immediately asked the judge, "Are there bubbles on the screen?" Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter admitted he was one of of many courtroom spectators distracted by the high-fiving Phillies. "Actually, I was watching it," the judge confessed, as the courtroom erupted in laughter.
After Burrell was booted, Faber was questioned about state Senate protocol regarding senators' expenses and use of state employees. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Zauzmer asked about the usual quality of furniture and decorations in state senators' offices.
"Mid-grade," was how Faber described it. If state senators ask for fancy stuff, "We'll scale it back to a mid-grade," Faber told the prosecutor.
Fumo, the prosecutor said, did not go for mid-grade furnishings. The prosecutor asked Faber about "maghogany doors, mahogany furnishings, and hardwood floors" at the state senator's district office at 1208 Castor St., along with granite desktops, $100-a-gallon paint and a heated sidewalk in front of the office that cost $55,000.
The prosecutor pointed out that the taxpayers did not pay for the fancy furnishings, which were supplied by contractors, but he used Faber to get on the record that the quality of the merchandise was well above what other state senators settled for. The typical state senator, Faber told the prosecutor, usually spent about $8,000 to $12,000 on furnishings.
On cross-examination, Cogan repeatedly questioned the court clerk on regulatons governing proper expenditures for state legislators, as well as use of state employees. The clerk admitted that not much was written down, and that Fumo had wide discretion regarding both expenses and use of state employees.
Cogan got Faber to agree that the state senator had a "close special replationship with his employees," and that Fumo's staffers often worked long hours. Cogan asked if Fumo's staffers were committed to constituent service as well as the senator, and Faber replied, "They're committed to him."
Faber, however, agreed that there was no written defintion of a legislative purpose, and the general rule is that state senators had broad discretiion as long as they were working on legislative business and constituent services.
"The unwritten rule isn't worth the paper it's not written on," Cogan told the witness. He got Faber to agree that Fumo had "unlimited discretion" regarding assignments of staffers. Cogan also got Faber to agree that although it wasn't something to be "proud of," an investigator who was doing other business for Fumo could also use his spare time to follow an ex-wife "to see who she's going around with."
The rules, Cogan got Farber to agree, are "really a loosey-goosey thing, really murky stuff," before the lawyer complained, "We're being charged with a crime here." The prosecutor objected, and the judge sustained it.
Cogan also asked Faber about a senate staffer who moved in at Fumo's 100-acre farm "shortly after Senator Fumo bought the farm," and would it be OK if that saffer was feeding the horses before he came to work. Farber said he would have no objections to feeding the horses.
Cogan also questioned the court clerk on a charity golf tournament he had worked on from his senate office, and the clerk described it as "a limited activity, yes." Cogan also asked if the clerk would object to a Fumo staffer occasionally picking up the boss's laundry. It wouldn't be a problem, Faber said, if it only happened about once a month.
Cogan asked if Faber's rules were "based on anything written," and the clerk said it wasn't.
Before the court recessed for lunch, the Pat Burrell controversy resurfaced when the judge asked the jury to please raise their hands "if something pops up" again on their computer screens.
Spectators were also relieved to find out that both the men's and women's bathrooms on the 17h floor were back in business, after both faclities were closed on Wednesday.
"Oh, we got bathrooms," Fumo said.
Posted: 2:26 p.m., Thursday, 10/23/08
"Not a day at the beach"
Wednesday, 5:48 p.m., 10-22-2008
Vince Fumo sat at the defense table and listened as a federal prosecutor told a jury that the case against the former state senator was all about "greed, power and a profound sense of personal entitlement." The prosecutor accused Fumo and an aide of stealing $1 million from a nonprofit civic group, and systematically using public employees and resources on a daily basis for the senator's private gain.
"Not a day at the beach," Fumo quipped after the prosecution rested for the day. As far as the press was concerned, the big news of the day at the federal courthouse was that Fumo’s young girlfriend, Carolyn Zinni, did not show, although Fumo’s son was there for opening statements.
The other big news outside Courtroom 17A was that both the men’s room and women’s room had signs posted saying out of order. The former state senator was overheard muttering about a possible conspiracy before he hopped the elevator to ride to a working bathroom on the 18th floor.
After Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Pease got through his opening statement, the prosecution called as a witness W. Russell Faber, chief clerk of the state Senate who had served 20 years. The clerk was quizzed about the rules of office, and how state senators are not supposed to use public employees for private gain.
The clerk dutifully testified that state senators are not supposed to use public employees on the clock to oversee construction projects on a senator’s home, or drive the senator’s children back and forth to school, or write out checks to pay the senator’s bills. Or, for that matter, the clerk testified, public employees are not supposed to hand out state computer equipment to the senator’s family members or friends.
At the end of the day, Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter told 12 jurors and four alternates that court would begin promptly at 10 a.m. tomorrow. The judge advised jurors to "not drink so much" as he wanted tomorrow’s session to go straight through to a lunch break at 12:30 p.m. After a hour lunch break, the judge informed jurors, they would hear testimony until 4:30 p.m.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA V. VINCENT J. FUMO -- In the biggest local political corruption trial in decades, former State Senator Fumo has been charged in a 139-count federal indictment with allegedy using state employees and contractors as servants to cater to his personal and political needs, as well as his lavish lifestyle, while systematically defrauding taxpayers of $3.5 million.
The indictment charges that Fumo, former chairman of the Senate appropriations committee, used state workers and contractors to refurbish his 33-room mansion on Green St., as well as spy on political rivals, an ex-wife and former girlfriends. The trial is expected to last three months.
The government's stable of prosecution witnesses is expected to include Fumo's estranged son-in-law, former aides and political allies, as well as possibly Richard A. Sprague, Fumo's former attorney. Fumo's potential defense witnesses include Gov. Rendell, U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, and City Council President Anna Verna. Fumo has pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and filing false tax returns.
