• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Sabatino Lawyer Cited 5th Time: Attorneys Finish Final Statements in Ex-Modesto Mayor's Corruption Trial

Posted on: Wednesday, 17 May 2006, 12:02 CDT

By Susan Herendeen, The Modesto Bee, Calif.

May 17--Arguments in former Modesto Mayor Carmen Saba-tino's trial ended with a bang Tuesday afternoon -- when a defense attorney got hit with a $500 fine for making an inappropriate comment during a prosecutor's closing statement.

The seven women and five men who are deliberating the outcome of 10 felony charges never heard about the fine, but they did hear the remark with which Judge Franklin Stephenson took issue.

The questionable comment came when Deputy District Attorney John Goulart suggested that the defense promised more in its opening statement than it delivered.

"I'm going to object," defense attorney Frank Carson said, interrupting the prosecutor. "Counsel knows what I was prevented from discussing."

The judge had warned against any commentary involving testimony that was out of bounds. After the jury retired to a deliberation room, Stephenson slapped the fine on Carson, who received four other contempt of court citations during the trial.

As Sabatino left the courthouse, he said he still believes jurors will reject the prosecutor's allegations.

"I think they'll see through it," he said. "We're counting on it."

The trial was less than the defense envisioned, even though it took seven weeks to unfold in Stanislaus County Superior Court.

Sabatino, a retired teacher and restaurateur who was mayor from 1999 to 2003, wanted to explore the motives and possible biases behind the investigation that led to his prosecution on corruption charges.

But the judge shut down Carson's attempts to bring Sabatino's foes into the courtroom -- including longtime Supervisor Ray Simon, Sonora-based attorney Roger Brown and developer Michael Zagaris.

Simon and Sabatino have sparred publicly for years.

Brown looked into Sabatino's financial activities on behalf of a client whom he declined to name.

Zagaris received copies of correspondence between Brown and a prosecutor, sent months before the district attorney's office filed charges, according to documents Carson obtained through a court order.

Stephenson said he would only allow testimony from witnesses who could offer direct evidence about the charges.

The jury heard from people who worked at Sabatino's restaurant, the Mediterranean Market and Grill, city employees who handled special requests for the mayor, business people who engaged in financial dealings with Sabatino and Comcast employees who dealt with Sabatino after his television service unexpectedly shut down.

Sabatino, 68, is charged with failing to report loans and the gift of free cable television on disclosure forms that elected officials must file annually; voting on issues related to a cable television franchise while receiving free service in his home; misreporting a $30,000 gift; using city employees to do his bidding in private matters; using a chef at his restaurant as a front to cater meals for the City Council without disclosing his financial interest; and stealing from his employees by deducting a half-hour from their timecards each day, whether they took breaks or not.

The trial was less than a prosecutor envisioned, too.

Brown's report suggested that Sabatino failed to disclose $3 million in loans to Modesto Joe's, a downtown restaurant Sabatino started with former business partner Patrick McGrath.

In the months before trial, Goulart winnowed the list of loans, reducing the total to $1.4 million.

Doughnuts for jurors

As jury selection began, the prosecutor dropped two perjury charges stemming from Sabatino's failure to disclose the loans, because McGrath, who helped build a case against Sabatino, refused to testify.

When the trial got under way, relaxed rules prevailed.

Stephenson brought doughnuts for the jury each morning, letting them pass a box of goodies among themselves, even though a sign on the wall prohibits food or drink in the courtroom.

And while bailiffs may confiscate cell phones that ring in court, Sabatino received several calls without being admonished.

During their closing arguments, the attorneys made highminded references to such famous people as Alexis de Tocqueville, the Frenchman who wrote "Democracy in America"; Sir Thomas Moore, the Englishman who was executed for refusing to acknowledge King Henry VIII's claim as head of the Church of England; and President Teddy Roosevelt, who advised people to speak softly and carry a big stick.

During the trial, the attorneys engaged in mudslinging.

Carson used a funny drawl whenever he uttered investigator Kirk Bunch's name, suggested that a waiter who worked for Sabatino was such a drunk that he had been found sleeping in a Dumpster behind the restaurant and asked several witnesses about their private lives.

Goulart called Sabatino a small-time crook, made fun of the fact that he sold cars as a young man and suggested that he wanted to follow in the footsteps of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, whose political machine was the stuff of legend.

Carson said the district attorney's office combed through law books looking for anything they could pin on Sabatino, who had a target on his back.

"The question you should be asking yourself is, 'Where's the beef?'" he said.

Goulart said Sabatino is a blame shifter who should be punished for his misdeeds.

"If the defendant had a target on his back, it was painted there by him," he said.

Bee staff writer Susan Herendeen can be reached at 578-2338 or sherendeen@modbee.com.

-----

Copyright (c) 2006, The Modesto Bee, Calif.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

NASDAQ-NMS:CMCSA,

Source: The Modesto Bee

More News in this Category