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Tuesday: Wright Trial, Day 2
posted at 2008-04-01 23:07 | Last modified 2008-04-03 00:16
Former State Rep. Thomas Wright’s criminal trial wound up its second day today on a full slate of prosecution witnesses. The jurors, some of whom had trouble staying awake (a problem shared by some in the audience, too), heard hours of testimony on a $150,000 bank loan Wright got from Coastal Federal to buy a building for the Community’s Health Foundation, Inc. Oh, and for a 1898 Race Riot museum, too. Maybe mostly for the museum. (Or maybe not, depending whom you ask.)
The prosecution
Here’s where it gets a little complicated. Wright bought the historic building from his friends, the Loftons. The price was $325,000. He got a $150,000 mortgage from the bank, agreed to pay another $150,000 to the Loftons, and put $25,000 down.
Or so the loan documents say, anyway. Wake DA Colon Willoughby hasn’t come out and said as much, but his line of questioning today made it clear he thinks there’s something odd about that earnest payment. Like, maybe it didn’t happen.
Bank lending agent Ronnie Burbank testified that Wright got the bank loan partly because of a letter from Torlen Wade at the office of Rural Health (DHHS) promising a $150,000 grant for the project. Problem is, Wade testified, he couldn’t make such a grant, and he says he and Wright both knew that.
Interesting note: Wade also testified that this isn’t the only time he’s been asked for letters promising grants that didn’t exist. He didn’t name names, darn it, but I'd bet someone’s going to follow up on that one.
Anyway, the six-month bank note wasn’t paid off, so Burbank extended it a couple of times – and on the extension paperwork, Burbank specifically referred to an expected grant from the Office of Rural Health.
Wright’s defense team tried to argue in the legislative hearings that Wright never used the letter – he just asked for it (for a memento, maybe?). But Burbank testified today that he’d definitely seen it, and his paperwork shows it was a big part of the reason he extended the loan, too.
The drop
Eventually, the bank foreclosed, and though the bank got its money back out of the deal, the Loftons, as “junior” lien holders, didn’t. They lost their $150,000 stake in the deal. The jury learned this from real estate lawyer Alan Solana, and foreclosure lawyer Chris Huff, both of whom were involved in the default proceedings. (And I now know far more about commercial real estate defaults than I ever wanted to.)
The most sympathetic and conflicted witness of the day had to be Dr. Dan Gottovi, who was as reluctant today as he was at the recent legislative hearings to say anything detrimental to his good friend, Thomas Wright.
There was one moment when Wake DA Colon Willoughby attempted to pin Gottovi down on the real purpose for the building: the museum. “It had nothing to do with health care, did it?” Willoughby asked. Gottovi leaned back in his chair, tilted his head back, and paused for a tense 10 seconds or so before offering, “It could’ve.”
Gottovi also said he didn’t think he’d have been bothered if he’d known Wright had pocketed $8900 in contributions to the Foundation, even while Gottovi himself was setting up financing to pay $4200 in interest out of his own pocket so the Foundation wouldn’t lose the building.
The defense
You could hear the relief warming Gottovi’s voice when Willoughby was finished and defense attorney Doug Harris took over. Harris asked Gottovi to talk about all the good things he and Wright had done to bring indigent health care to the community, and how much that community respected and admired Wright.
In fact, that was pretty much the defense’s strategy: Argue that Wright’s a “serial do-gooder,” a well-respected leader in his own district who’s done a lot of good in Raleigh, too. And that everyone makes mistakes and cuts corners from time to time. And that Wright didn’t make any money off the bank deal, anyway.
After today’s proceeding, Harris called the prosecution’s case “weak as water,” and said he has proof that Wright did nothing wrong.
When I asked him why he didn’t produce that proof to save Wright’s legislative seat, he said it was because he and Wright felt the House hearing’s outcome had been pre-determined by Wright’s political enemies, so there was nothing to gain by showing their hand before the trial. (In all fairness, let's face it: losing your statehouse seat is bad, but losing your freedom is a whole lot worse.)
Harris declined to name Wright's political enemies today, but says the names will come out by the time the trial is over. You can hear his full comments below.
Listen Now!
The next step
Harris said Wright will take the stand in his own defense – and Wright’s wife will testify, too, as to her husband’s occasionally slipshod banking habits. We’re also likely to hear from character witnesses who will attest to Wright’s long history of public service. That could happen as soon as Wednesday: Colon Willoughby says he’s likely to wrap up his case Wed. afternoon.
More here tomorrow night....
Follow-up: BlueNC debate
Last night's first-ever gubernatorial liveblog debate was good for BlueNC. Debate co-organizer Betsy Muse says the site doubled its week-to-week traffic, and its page views went through the roof. Her stats:
March 24
- 1231 visits
- 808 unique visitors
- 4522 page views
- Avg time on the site a little over 5 minutes
- 8 new registrants
March 31
- 2139 visits
- 1424 unique visitors
- 16,337 page views
- Avg time on the site a little over 10 minutes
- 107 new registrants
So congrats, BlueNC. It's always nice when you can do good and do well by it, too.
Comments? Drop me a line.
