Judge sets evidentiary hearing in Walters case

Kim Smith

Thursday, May 25, 2000 | 11 a.m.

Expressing his desire for a fresh start, District Judge Mark Gibbons Wednesday scheduled an evidentiary hearing to determine whether illegal wiretaps have been used in the Billy Walters sports gambling case.

"I suspect that what the state has been saying will turn out to be true, that this will probably be a wild goose chase," but an evidentiary hearing will put to rest the fears of defense attorneys and the public, Gibbons said.

The wiretap issue is just the latest in a long string of controversial developments in the case.

Walters, James Jay Hanley and Daniel Pray are accused of funnelling money to and from illegal bookmakers across the country through Sierra Sports Inc., a company owned by Walters, a golf course developer with many political ties.

The group has been indicted three times with two of the indictments being dismissed by District Judge Donald Mosley, who was accused of being biased by the state attorney general's office.

Mosley was cleared of the bias charge during a March hearing, but later recused himself from the case, saying that if he were to stay on the case, no matter how it turned out, there would always be questions.

Within two weeks of Gibbons being appointed to the case, defense attorneys shocked the community by alleging they have an answering machine tape on which a Metro Police detective talks about a wiretap on the office of a Walters attorney.

Metro Detective Russ White said in an affidavit that while he was talking on the phone with an America West Airlines investigator he overheard a 20- to 30-second conversation where the name Billy Walters was mentioned.

White said he called Dianne Deiss, a police department law enforcement technician to ask her to check with Metro's intelligence unit to see if they had a tap on Walters. If they did, he said he wanted to warn them that it was coming through his line.

In his affidavit, the America West investigator, William Hengler Jr., said he remembers joking with White about Metro "hooking up the wire." He also recalled some clicking on the line and a woman saying "you're coming in on this line and this is a law office that represents Billy Walters."

During Wednesday's hearing, Deputy Attorney General David Thompson told Gibbons there is no need for an evidentiary hearing.

An investigation by Sprint revealed that an insulated jumper wire fell inside a terminal block, making contact between the phone lines for White and defense attorney JoNell Thomas. Once removed, what amounted to a party line disappeared.

Thompson said White leapt to a wrong conclusion. White's affidavit, along with those of Deiss and the Sprint investigator should be enough to appease the defense, he said.

The defense attorneys, Thompson said, have proven nothing but that they are paranoid.

Defense attorney Richard Wright, however, told Gibbons that because of the history of the case he has a real problem relying on the affidavits of Metro Police officers.

"This case is replete with false affidavits filed by the state," Wright said.

In fact, the case started off with a police officer signing an affidavit for a search warrant saying that Walters was engaging in bookmaking, Wright said. That allegation was later disproved.

Other officers also signed affidavits swearing they saw defense attorneys conferring with Mosley about the Walters case outside the presence of the attorney general's office, Wright said. That too was false.

Thomas doesn't represent Walters, she represents Pray and has never uttered Walters' name on the phone, Wright said.

Wright said he wants the opportunity to cross-examine those involved.

Gibbons scheduled the hearing for June 30, saying that the lingering questions aren't good for the community, nor is the cloud hanging over Metro's head.