Government
making Thompson case "oblique,"
defense says
June
5, 2006 -- The government's phrasing
of its indictment against state employee George
Thompson made it "difficult for defense
counsel to understand what ought be simple
concepts," her lawyer said in pre-trial
filings in the case.
The
indictment, charging the state purchasing
supervisor with fraud, was written "obliquely,"
lawyer Stephen Hurley said.
"When
fundamental questions
exist, the District Court ought require the
government to explain aspects of its indictment,"
he said. "The indictment ought not be
complex – though it need not be so sparse
as haiku – and, quite unlike the Da
Vinci Code, its unraveling ought not be suspenseful;
it should clearly apprise the accused and
public of her offense."
Hurley's
filing
appealing US Magistrate Judge Patricia Gorence's
decisions denying Hurley's request that the
charges be dismissed or explained further
was one of a flurry of documents entered in
the case last week.
The
government said
most of Hurley's argument is not new, and
the case should proceed. Thompson's trial
is scheduled to start today. She is charged
with using her position to improperly award
a travel contract to a campaign contributor
to Gov. Jim Doyle.
Hurley
said there are still unanswered questions
regarding the case against Thompson "despite
having received over 3,850 pages of documents."
Read
more defense motions filed last week:
1
2
3
4
5
Judge
boots amicus try in Adelman Travel case
April
17, 2006 -- Federal Magistrate Judge
Patricia Gorence last week nixed union efforts
to file pleadings to help Georgia Thompson,
the state employee who has been indicted for
fraud in the Adelman Travel case. Read the
decision.
Adelman
Travel: defense documents rip charges against
Thompson
March
6, 2006 -- The lawyer for indicted
state employee Georgia Thompson says there
was no bribe, no financial loss, no
crime committed by his client in
her evaluation of proposals for a state travel
contract. Attorney Stephen Hurley also disputes
the notion of an intangible "right"
to "honest
services."
Thompson
faces two counts of fraud for allegedly manipulating
scores in the bidding process to make sure
Adelman Travel Group got the contract. She
has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
"If
there is any benefit to speak of, resulting
from the award of the contract to Adelman
Travel Group, it is that the citizens of the
State of Wisconsin saved money because the
vendor submitted a less costly proposal in
order to be awarded the contract," Hurley
wrote.
Craig
Adelman, owner of the travel firm, gave the
maximum allowable $10,000 before and after
his firm won the contract. Adelman Travel
board member Mitch Fromstein gave $10,000
after the contract was awarded.
