WSB's Veronica Waters reports prosecutors called attorney Alan Begner, who represents clients in the adult entertainment industry on first amendment issues, to testify about former client Michael Childs. Childs, according to another witness, gave Campbell's personal assistant $50,000 over the course of a year to pass to Campbell so the Mayor would push through a liquor license for a new strip club he wanted to open, Strawberries. Childs already owned two other nude dancing establishments-Nikki's and the Gentleman's Club-and was facing neighborhood opposition to all of his clubs because of deadly shootings there.

Childs never received the license he wanted. Childs' friend, Dewey Clark, said the Mayor had bowed to political pressure when he allegedly reneged on a promise to get Childs' new strip club license and to protect his existing ones.

Begner documented a series of letters between himself and City Hall in which he complained that Childs' license application was being unconstitutionally delayed. Under cross-examination, Begner acknowledged that police looking into licensing an individual would probe the applicant's history with the law. Campbell's lead defense attorney Billy Martin asked Begner if, when Childs first retained him in 1996, he was aware that Childs had burned down a competitor's strip club called Body Tap. "No," replied Begner.

"That would make a difference, wouldn't it?" Martin asked.

"It certainly would," said Begner.

Jury Hears About Former Strip Club Owner's Claims

Martin then asked Begner if he knew about Childs personally torching or hiring out the arsons of other rival nude clubs Pleasers, Club Oasis, and his charge of conspiring to burn down a fourth club. As Martin ran down the list of arsons, several jurors looked surprised-brows raising, eyes widening.

Begner testified Childs had a conversation with him in 1997 that he was giving money to the Mayor through Childs' friend and Campbell's personal aide, Dewey Clark. Childs didn't tell Begner he was "bribing" the Mayor, the attorney testified.

Hakim Hilliard, a former assistant city attorney with Atlanta, testified their office argued against the renewal of Childs' license at Club Nikki, but the License Review Board recommended renewing it anyway. But he said Mayor Campbell did not respond to the recommendation immediately, and no action was taken for eight months-when Nikki's liquor license was revoked, citing numerous violations.

Hilliard says a few months after he left his City job and went to work for a law firm in 1999, he saw Michael Childs and the two struck up a conversation. Childs told him about the trouble he was having trying to buy an old fire station adjacent to one of his clubs, in order to put a large parking lot on the site. Hilliard testified Childs was frustrated about the fact that his plans were being stymied and that Childs told him, "You know, I gave the Mayor $50,000 for his campaign and I don't know why he's doing this to me."

Hilliard said Childs told him the money was being passed to Campbell through his aide, Dewey Clark. When he questioned how Childs knew Clark was passing the money, Hilliard testified that the expression on Childs' face as he looked upward to respond indicated he had not thought of that possibility himself.

"He just looked to the air and said, 'Cause I trust Dewey. I know he'd do it,'" Hilliard testified.

On cross, defense attorney Martin asked Hilliard to detail the expression Childs had given him.

"It was like he was searching his mind," Hilliard explained. "It was almost like he hadn't asked himself that same question." Hilliard also said he had no knowledge of Campbell ever getting money from Childs.

"Mayor Campbell has never called you to do anything illegal, has he?" Martin asked..

"Mayor Campbell has never called me," Hilliard replied, eliciting laughter from the courtroom.

With Begner and Hilliard, Martin also detailed a lengthy list of violations and problems Childs' nude clubs had racked up, including unlicensed dancers, lewd dancing, clients putting their own exposed genitals on the dancers, prostitution, drug use, shootings, assaults, and stolen cars. There were a number of offenses, Martin contended, which contributed to police recommendations that the liquor license be revoked.

Hilliard also acknowledged that Campbell generally did not move quickly on decisions involving liquor licenses, particularly new ones, and that Campbell "didn't seem to like strip clubs in general." When Begner was on the stand, he agreed that Campbell didn't seem to like nude dance clubs.

"I would certainly say he was not an active supporter of strip clubs," Begner testified.

Former City Contractor Testifies He Gave Aide Cash

Former city contractor George Greene, who pleaded guilty in 2000 to bribing Fulton County officials, testified that on two separate occasions, Dewey Clark asked him for money for the Mayor. Sable Communications owner Greene says he gave $4,000 to Clark one time-which Clark has testified he delivered to Campbell in the bathroom stall of a casino--and $750 another time, to pay for an airline ticket for a "girlfriend" of the Mayor.

Later, in a meeting in Campbell's office, Greene testified that he asked the Mayor "did he get my package that Dewey Clark picked up. He looked kind of annoyed and said, 'Next time that happens, call me.'"

Greene said that in 1996, Clark contacted him to say "the Mayor needed some cash" and told him that Greene could get the money to him by paying Campbell for a speech. Greene says Campbell spoke for about 30 minutes to perhaps a couple dozen people at his office, including relatives, employees and business associates. Greene says he paid $5,000 for the speech. The Mayor only listed the income in October 2000, on an addendum to his annual financial disclosures.

Greene testified that he did not know whether any of the money he gave Clark to give to the Mayor ever left Clark's own pockets.

"You've never had a conversation with the Mayor about money, have you? To the Mayor, not Dewey?" Martin asked.

For about half a minute, Greene turned his eyes skyward and appeared to be thinking long and hard. Finally, he said, "I can't recall."

Greene said in his briberies of former Fulton County Commissioners Mitch Skandalakis and Michael Hightower and Skandalakis' chief of staff, Josh Kenyon, he had not used any intermediaries. He said he personally gave thousands of dollars to each man, even passing cash in a restaurant. Greene testified he had never had any such contact with the Mayor. Meetings they had, he said, were about legitimate business, and Campbell never solicited him to do anything illegal or asked him for a kickback or any money at all.

Judge Excludes 'Prejudicial' Testimony

Wednesday, witnesses taking the stand are expected to include Joe Reid, a former Atlanta city official who has pleaded guilty to taking nearly $20,000 in bribes while at City Hall from a city contractor; and Vertis McManus, the telecommunications company executive who served time for bribing Reid, as well as bribing Campbell's former chief operating officer and close friend, Larry Wallace.

Judge Richard Story dealt the prosecution a blow when he told them McManus will not be able to testify about an incident involving Wallace being given a cash-filled wallet before he and Campbell took a trip to Tahoe.

Although the wallet incident is not a charged offense against Campbell, prosecutors hoped to show that the money was the impetus for the Mayor to get involved later in making sure McManus' company, Spectronics, got a lucrative city contract. But Story called it "a bit of a leap," saying there was no evidence Campbell would have even known about the money.

"The probative posture of this is extremely weak as opposed to the prejudicial value," Story said in excluding the testimony.

Wednesday, 15 February 2006