WSB's Veronica Waters reports handwriting expert Dave Moore was called to testify to the authenticity of a series of signatures on seven letter agreements purportedly signed by Campbell December 11, 2001, which gave city contractor United Water a $68 million contract addition. The Government alleges Campbell committed "honest services fraud" when he signed the documents, because he failed to disclose that the company paid for his accommodations during a 1999 Paris trip.

The defense disputes that Campbell ever signed those agreements.

Earlier Monday, Atlanta municipal clerk Rhonda Johnson detailed dozens of documents for the jury which showed Campbell's annual financial disclosures. The papers revealed Campbell routinely reported his access to Braves, Hawks, and Falcons tickets, and tickets for concert venues, as well as parking passes. But lists of several thousands of dollars worth of speaking fees the Mayor received each year were only included in addenda dated October 26, 2000. The United Water-paid hotel and transportation expenses for the Bristol Hotel and an on-call limousine for Campbell's four days in Paris in July 1999 were not listed.

Under cross-examination, Johnson acknowledged that she had never seen Campbell sign any of the documents on file with her office. Several of the documents, however, had been subscribed by a notary.

Handwriting Expert: Signatures By 'Same Author'

When Moore—who was first certified as a forensic document examiner by the Army in 1975--took the stand, he showed the jury a chart he had made with several "known" Campbell signatures [pdf] at the bottom of the sheet, topped by three of the signatures in question on the United Water papers. Moore explained that while there was a notable amount of variation in the handwritings, that was typical for genuine signatures. Fraudulent signatures, he explained, generally show less variation because the copier is typically trying to reproduce one standard look.

"The author of the known Bill Campbell signatures also wrote the signatures in the questioned documents," Moore testified.

Moore also said he had considered whether someone else had signed Campbell's name, but he had determined that the signatures were done rapidly and fluidly without "any classic signs of simulation."

Moore's cross-examination revealed that he had been sent 33 "known" samples of Campbell's handwriting to compare with the seven United Water signatures. Moore admitted that he had not been told that others sometimes signed documents for the Mayor. He said he accepted that the documents he had been given by the Government as "knowns" were reliable because they were the type of documents Campbell, as Mayor, would have signed in day-to-day business.

"I assumed that the Government thought that they were all Mayor Bill Campbell's signatures," Moore explained.

Frequent Flier Records Indicate Campbell Was Out Of Town

Defense attorney Jerry Froelich compared two disparate signatures—one on Campbell's oath of office [pdf], and another on a separate paper dealing with a city action. The writings looked noticeably different. Moore explained that several things could cause differences in a signature—including the "mental importance" one attaches to a document like a will or a $300,000 mortgage, versus the "throwaway" signature one might put on the receipt of a FedEx package.

"It could also mean somebody else wrote it, couldn't it?" Froelich asked. Moore responded that perhaps it could "if you looked at it in a vacuum."

Froelich wrapped his cross-examination by displaying Campbell travel records [pdf] the prosecution has previously admitted into evidence. The frequent flier records showed Campbell had flown to Washington, DC, December 10 and returned December 12, 2001. The seven United Water documents were dated December 11.

Expected on the stand Tuesday is Alan Begner, an attorney known for handling cases for clients in the adult entertainment industry. He represented strip club owner Michael Childs, who, according to the testimony of Campbell's former personal assistant, allegedly passed $50,000 in bribes to the Mayor to push through a new club's liquor license. Childs never received the license.

Also slated to testify is George Greene, whose company, Sable Communications, paid Campbell a $5,000 speaking fee, even as the company was doing business with the city. The fee was among several similar paid speaking engagements later disclosed on an October 2000 addendum submitted by the Mayor.

Campbell's ex-assistant, Dewey Clark, also testified that Greene sometimes provided money to cover the travel expenses of one of Campbell's female friends, and that he once sent the Mayor $4,500 cash for a gambling trip. Clark said Greene also regularly gifted him with checks so that Clark would have extra spending money.

This week's expected testimony of former Campbell chief of staff DeWayne Martin, who got an immunity deal from the government several years ago when he admitted taking bribes while at City Hall, has been pushed back and may not occur until next week.

Tuesday, 14 February 2006