Gambling defendant Crosby dies day before trial

MONTGOMERY — One of the defendants in the Alabama gambling corruption trial set to begin Monday has died.

Montgomery County Coroner David Thrasher confirmed Sunday evening that Joseph “Ray” Crosby died earlier in the day. Thrasher would not release further information and would only say that the investigation into Crosby's death is continuing.

Crosby, a former employee of the Alabama Legislature, was scheduled to go on trial in federal court in Montgomery Monday along with casino owner Milton McGregor and five others.

The original trial ended in August with two acquittals, no convictions and the jury divided on 33 counts.

Jim Parkman, an attorney for Sen. Harri Anne Smith, another defendant, would not comment about Crosby's death or say if defendants will ask for a delay.

Crosby was facing a retrial on government corruption charges along with McGregor, three present and former state senators, and two others. Prosecutors have said they have wiretaps that prove that millions in campaign contributions were offered for legislators’ votes on pro-gambling legislation. They also have guilty pleas from casino owner Ronnie Gilley and two of his lobbyists, who admit they offered millions for votes.

Two jurors who voted to acquit every defendant in Alabama's first gambling corruption trial said they are disappointed prosecutors will retry the case because their key witnesses lacked credibility and their evidence was weak.

“I cannot believe the government is going to retry these people because for one, they do not have evidence of wrongdoing,” juror Jeannie Osborne McNeil of Wetumpka told The Associated Press.

The two jurors from the first trial and others spoke to the AP last week about the retrial.

Juror Teresa Tolbert of Red Level said she can't see how the outcome will be different because “there's not any new evidence.”

The gambling case is the latest of several major corruption cases that have rocked state and local governments in Alabama in the past seven years. More than 20 people, including five county commissioners, were convicted in Jefferson County's sewer corruption scandal. The scandal led to the county declaring the nation's largest municipal bankruptcy.

Corruption in Alabama's two-year college system resulted in convictions or guilty pleas for three legislators, the system's chancellor and several administrators. And former Gov. Don Siegelman and former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy were convicted in 2006 of swapping $500,000 in political contributions for a seat on a hospital regulatory board.

In Alabama's first gambling corruption trial, the jury voted 8-4 for acquittal on all but one of the 33 undecided counts, McNeil and Tolbert said. They said jurors were 11-1 for acquittal on one count accusing former Republican Sen. Jim Preuitt of Talladega of lying to FBI agents.

McNeil and Tolbert said Gilley and his two casino lobbyists, Jarrod Massey and Jennifer Pouncy, lacked credibility when they testified for the prosecution because it was evident they were trying to help themselves get lighter sentences. They said Gilley and Massey seemed arrogant on the witness stand rather than remorseful.

“They didn't have credibility. If Jarrod Massey told me it was a pretty, sunny day, I'd still bring my umbrella,” Tolbert told The Associated Press.

Court officials did not release the names of jurors from the first trial, and no jurors who voted to convict have spoken out.

Prosecutors with the U.S. Justice Department have repeatedly declined comment about the original trial and retrial.

In addition to Crosby, McGregor and Preuitt, the second trial was to involve independent Sen. Harri Anne Smith of Slocomb; former Democratic Sen. Larry Means of Attalla; casino lobbyist Tom Coker; and casino spokesman Jay Walker.

The charges grew out of efforts by McGregor, owner of VictoryLand in Shorter, and Gilley, developer of Country Crossing in Dothan, to pass a constitutional amendment that would protect their casinos from efforts by then-Gov. Bob Riley to shut them down in 2010. Riley contended the casinos’ electronic bingo machines were illegal slots. Three legislators anchored the FBI's probe by recording phone calls and meetings. The FBI also tapped the phones of Gilley, McGregor and Massey.

Defense attorneys say prosecutors recently told them that they don't plan to bring back as witnesses two of the three legislators who helped the FBI.

The prosecution's strategy changed after an embarrassing moment in the original trial involving those two lawmakers. Republican Sen. Scott Beason of Gardendale recorded a conversation with another cooperating legislator, former Republican Rep. Benjamin Lewis of Dothan, where Beason referred to black casino customers as “aborigines.”

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ruled after the trial that the undercover tapes also showed Beason and Lewis had racial motives to keep the pro-gambling legislation off Alabama's ballot in November 2010. He said it was clear they thought the ballot issue would bring out more black voters and hinder Republicans’ efforts to win a majority in the Legislature.

The pro-gambling bill died in the House after the FBI disclosed its investigation in April 2010. The issue didn't go on the ballot, and the GOP won a majority in the 2010 election.

McNeil said the legislators’ testimony was suspect.

“They had obvious political motivations,” she said.

The original trial took 10 weeks. This time, both sides have told the judge they expect a shorter trial, though jury selection will likely take longer.

Joe Espy, one of McGregor's attorneys, said attorneys for both sides will question potential jurors at length to make sure they don't have any fixed opinions that would affect a verdict.

“Unless you don't have a newspaper, TV or Internet, you are going to know about this case,” Espy said.

Terry Butts, a retired state Supreme Court justice and circuit judge, has presided over some high-profile retrials in murder cases. Speaking about retrials in general, he said attorneys will watch carefully for even the slightest variation in a witness’ testimony from the first trial.

“It will be used to impeach his testimony. That alone is a major challenge, and it slows down a retrial,” he said.

In the first trial, the defense rested its case after one witness. Defense attorneys told jurors that the prosecution hadn't proven its case and that there was no need for more witnesses. That means defense attorneys go into the second trial without having revealed their strategy.

The defendants are prepared to put on a full slate of witnesses this time if they think it necessary, and the defense may call Beason and Lewis as witnesses if the prosecution doesn't, said Smith's attorney, Jim Parkman.

As the trial begins, McGregor's VictoryLand casino remains closed. Gilley's Country Crossing got new management last year. It reopened as Center Stage with new games in a scaled-down gambling hall. Traditional paper bingo also was added.