The lawyer for ex-state Senate President W.D. Childers sought to have the case dismissed. The sentencing is May 16.
By Associated Press
Published May 8, 2003
PENSACOLA - Former Florida Senate President W.D. Childers lost a bid Wednesday to have his conviction for bribing a fellow Escambia County commissioner thrown out.
Circuit Judge Jere Tolton in Shalimar denied the motions after hearing arguments over the phone from prosecutors in Pensacola and defense lawyer Richard Lubin in West Palm Beach.
"The weight and credibility of evidence, as far as I'm concerned, is not lacking," Tolton said.
Childers, who has been suspended from the County Commission, faces a maximum of 10 years in prison when he is sentenced May 16 in Crestview. A jury last month convicted him of bribery and unlawful compensation for official behavior. State Attorney Curtis Golden is seeking prison time but said he has not yet decided how much. Another suspended commissioner, Willie Junior, testified that Childers told him each would get $100,000 to vote for purchasing a former Pensacola soccer complex for $3.9-million and afterward gave him a cooking pot filled with cash.
Lubin argued that Junior changed his story so many times he was unbelievable and that Tolton erred by rejecting pretrial motions that would have helped the defense attack Junior's credibility.
Tolton refused to permit disclosure to the jury that another jury acquitted Joe Elliott of bribing Childers and Junior. Elliott and his wife, Georgann, sold the soccer complex to the county. Tolton also refused to let jurors hear that prosecutors tried to revoke part of a plea deal with Junior because of prior inconsistent statements and testimony.
Junior pleaded no contest to 11 charges, including bribery and extortion, and agreed to testify in exchange for a prison term of no more than 18 months. Otherwise he would have faced as much as 125 years. After Joe Elliott's trial, Junior changed his story to include what Lubin termed "blockbuster new testimony." Until then, Junior had maintained that Childers said nothing when handing over the money pot and earlier when he wrote "100,000/100,000" on a pad of paper.
Junior's new story was that Childers spoke both times, saying the note meant both would get $100,000 and that he had removed $25,000 from the pot.
