DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF News) — Opening statements have concluded in the corruption trial for Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price, and the case has now entered the witness testimony phase.
The statements took place this morning after several delays last Thursday, which pushed the trial back to Monday morning. The prosecution urged the jury to “follow the money,” repeating the phrase multiple times and telling jurors to pay attention to it throughout the trial like the investigators did collecting evidence.
Specifically, attorney James Nicholas Bunch pointed to a safe hidden in Price’s closet underneath a blanket that had more than $200,000 in cash inside, bank transactions, and Price’s tax returns, which Bunch said shows Price did not disclose any income outside of his Dallas County Commissioner’s check and one other small radio job.
Bunch said Price collected more than $1,000,000 that he did not disclose to the government — something that is required of an elected official.
“When you strip away the details, the evidence is pretty simple,” Bunch told the jury. “Follow the money. All of it points to green, corruption, and lies.”
While Bunch kept it simple by staying strictly with the “follow the money” message, the defense’s statements were much more stern and powerfully worded. Price’s attorney, Shirley Baccus-Lobel, routinely said Price was simply friends with Daphne Fain and Kathy Nealy, two alleged co-conspirators in Price’s trial, saying that is why there was an exchange of money. She continuously called the multiple bribery, tax evasion and mail fraud charges “ludicrous.”
“He’s not an extravagant person,” Baccus-Lobel said to the jury. “He’s flamboyant. That’s his schtick. Behind the persona is the most diligent, devoted public servant you’ve ever seen in your life.”
Baccus-Lobel also bounced back and forth between personal information about Price and detailing contracts he had with businesses that the government claims benefitted nefariously by Price’s vote. At one point, she told the jury Price “has a fondness for women” to illustrate that he treated many women, including Fain and Nealy, like a husband would treat them.
Another sticking point to the defense’s opening statements was the 107-page indictment. Baccus-Lobel criticized the government’s timing of their prosecution, saying they only pushed it now because they were up against the statute of limitations. She also vehemently stated that placing multiple years time between the dates Price is accused of accepting bribes and the timing of the trial “hampers the ability to present a defense” due to the possibility of Price and others’ memory being cloudy.
“If you can’t show that a man’s guilty in two weeks, maybe he’s not,” Baccus-Lobel said.
The first witness to testify Monday morning was Dallas County Administrator Darryl Martin. Testimony will continue Tuesday, and could last as long as four months.
