Friday, Aug. 5, 2005 | 9:57 a.m.
WORCESTER, Mass. -- The former general manager of Lincoln Park was an "exuberant, hard-driving operations manager" who simply wanted to reward an attorney for helping the dog track succeed, his lawyer said during closing arguments Thursday in the park's bribery conspiracy trial.
A federal jury of six men and six women began deliberating the case on Thursday, and concluded for the day after about three hours. They were expected to return this morning.
They were asked to decide whether the dog track, its former general manager Dan Bucci, and Nigel Potter, former chief executive of the park's British parent company, Wembley PLC, conspired to bribe the former speaker of the Rhode Island House with up to $4 million in payments to his law firm. Prosecutors say they hoped to secure legislative support for adding video lottery terminals at the track.
Bucci's lawyer, Anthony Traini, said his client didn't want any conditions or contingencies placed on the payments he proposed to Lincoln Park's lawyer, Dan McKinnon, whose partner was then-House Speaker John Harwood.
"That was the basis on which Mr. Bucci made the proposal in the first place. That's what he was trying to tell Mr. Potter," Traini said.
Traini said correspondence between Bucci and Potter show Bucci disagreed with Potter's plan to pay McKinnon based on adding video lottery terminals.
"Their philosophies were entirely different," Traini said.
Traini noted a fax Bucci sent on March 8, 2001, to two Wembley executives regarding the proposed payment, and said it served as further proof that his client wasn't engaged in a bribery scheme.
"There is no quid pro quo," Bucci wrote in the fax. "There is no guarantee. There is no bribe."
Prosecutors say Potter and Bucci also wanted Harwood's help in blocking the Narragansett Indian Tribe from building a rival casino in West Warwick, R.I. The alleged bribe was never offered, and McKinnon and Harwood were not charged.
Traini asked the jurors Thursday to consider what he said were key questions that weaken the government's case. For example, he asked why Bucci would try to bribe Harwood when it would be in the speaker's best interest to add video lottery terminals, since the machines would generate more revenue for the state, which claims a portion of the track's proceeds.
John Tarantino, who represents Lincoln Park, said all the witnesses made it clear that Bucci and Potter were never authorized to make any payment to McKinnon.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it is crystal clear that the Dan McKinnon payment was a matter reserved for the Wembley PLC board. No one said anything different," Tarantino said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Moore, who delivered a short rebuttal on Thursday, said the correspondence between Bucci and Potter is enough to convict them.
"If you read the faxes and communications between those two men from start to finish, I guarantee you it screams out that they are guilty," he said.
Neither Tarantino or Traini presented any witnesses at trial. Potter's lawyer, Leonard O'Brien, gave his closing on Wednesday.
An earlier trial ended in February after the jury deliberated five days, and could not reach a verdict on the most serious conspiracy charge and several wire fraud charges. The jury found the defendants innocent of some wire fraud charges. The retrial was moved to Worcester from Providence, R.I., because of pretrial publicity.
If convicted, Potter and Bucci face up to five years in prison for each conspiracy and wire fraud charge. Lincoln Park faces a maximum fine of $500,000.
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