Defense wraps up case in Lincoln Park trial

Eric Tucker

Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2005 | 9:28 a.m.

WORCESTER, Mass. -- The defense called its final witnesses Tuesday in the federal conspiracy trial of dog track Lincoln Park and two former executives accused of plotting to pay millions of dollars in bribes to the speaker of the Rhode Island House.

Tuesday's testimony centered on the proposed payments at the heart of the charges, and advice sought out about the plan by Nigel Potter, former chief executive of the park's British parent company, Wembley PLC.

Closing arguments were expected to begin today. U.S. District Judge Mary Lisi said she expected the case to go to the jury on Thursday.

The track, its former general manager, Dan Bucci and Potter are accused of conspiring to bribe then-House Speaker John Harwood by proposing a payment of up to $4 million to his law firm.

Prosecutors allege the money was intended to win legislative support for more video lottery machines at the track in Lincoln, R.I., and to defeat a rival casino proposed by the Narragansett Indian tribe.

Defense lawyers say no bribe was intended, and the proposed payments would have been a performance bonus for Dan McKinnon, Harwood's law partner and the park's legal adviser.

No payments were made and Harwood and McKinnon were not charged.

Since Harwood and McKinnon were law partners, the proposed payments were seen as a sensitive issue and set off a series of phone calls about whether the plan was appropriate, according to Tuesday's testimony.

Iain Wilkie, an Ernst & Young accountant in England who audited the company, testified that Potter asked him in January 2001 for advice on a proposal to give extra money to a Rhode Island lawyer who worked for the park.

"The context of that payment was that it would be over and above" money normally paid to a lawyer, Wilkie said.

He testified that he arranged a conference call with an Ernst _& Young senior partner who specialized in gaming. The partner advised Potter against making the payments to McKinnon, and said it would "likely be inappropriate," Wilkie said.

Peter Harris, a member of Wembley PLC's board of Directors, said Potter discussed the idea of increasing McKinnon's pay at a meeting in England in October 2000. He said Potter told the board that he had received a recommendation from Bucci indicating that McKinnon was not being adequately paid for his services.

The matter was reserved for the board's future consideration, and the payments were not approved, Harris said.

Harris said that two months later, he reviewed a copy of the corporation's 2001 budget, and noticed that $600,000 annually was listed for legal services. Potter acknowledged that those payments were not approved, but told him it was "prudent" to make space for them in the budget.

Harris was the last witness called by Potter's attorney, Leonard O'Brien. Attorneys for Lincoln Park and Bucci did not call any witnesses of their own. _