SAN DIEGO -- All sides rested Thursday in the trial of two San Diego councilmen and two other men without any of the defendants taking the stand.
The testimony portion of the trial came to an end after defense attorneys for Councilmen Michael Zucchet and Ralph Inzunza called a number of character witnesses to vouch for the politicians' honesty and integrity.
Inzunza and Zucchet are charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and extortion for allegedly taking monetary bribes from strip club owner Michael Galardi in return for help in repealing San Diego's "no-touch" adult dancing ordinance.
Councilman Charles Lewis was indicted in August 2003 with the other defendants, but died last year of complications from liver disease.
David Cowan, a former aide to Lewis, is charged with making a false statement to the FBI, and Las Vegas lobbyist Lance Malone faces charges of wire fraud, conspiracy, extortion and racketeering.
Closing arguments are scheduled to begin Wednesday and last at least three days.
Jury selection began May 3 in the trial, which at the outset had been projected to take three months. The defense began calling witnesses last Friday.
Galardi and Cheetah's San Diego club manager John D'Intino pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in late 2003.
Galardi testified during the prosecution's case that he tried to influence the councilmen to change the "no-touch" law by giving them campaign contributions in the form of checks. When that didn't work, he gave Malone thousands of dollars in cash to give to them, he said.
The strip club owner testified that he gave Malone $10,000 in cash to give to the councilmen, and on another occasion, gave the lobbyist $6,000 in cash to divide among the politicians.
Galardi said he knew the councilmen got the money because Malone told him they did.
Inzunza and Zucchet -- who could face three to four years behind bars if convicted -- have maintained that any monies they accepted were legitimate campaign contributions.
Under state law, the politicians could be forced to give up their council seats if found guilty of felonies.
Political consultant Jennifer Tierney testified earlier this week that Zucchet called her early in the 2002 campaign and wondered if taking more than $6,000 in checks from the adult entertainment industry would hurt him politically.
She said she told Zucchet that he would face attacks from his opponent for the District 2 seat if he took the money.
The consultant said she recommended taking the contributions late in the campaign so they would be reported after the election was over.
Later in the campaign, Zucchet again asked Tierney if he should accept money from Malone, she said. The consultant said she advised Zucchet it would be OK if he took the contributions at that point, which he did.
Lewis' widow testified last week that there was no way her late husband would have accepted money from Malone in Las Vegas, as alleged.
Inzunza's former chief of staff, Larry Cohen, testified that he never met Malone, but was in the office when Inzunza returned from a lunch the councilman had with the lobbyist.
Cohen said Inzunza dumped out an envelope with about $8,000 in campaign contribution checks.
"He was surprised that someone he had never met before went out on his own and raised $8,000," Cohen testified.
San Diego police Detective Russ Bristol -- who played the role of a corrupt cop -- testified that in April 2002, he told Malone he was worried about getting Inzunza involved in the scheme to overturn "no-touch."
"Don't worry about Ralph. Ralph is with me," Malone told Bristol, according to the detective.
Later, Malone -- referring to Inzunza and Lewis -- told Bristol, "Ralph and Charles are my guys."
In a secretly recorded conversation from Feb. 19, 2003, Malone told the undercover officer, "Zucchet is, I mean, big time on board, and so is Inzunza."
Malone told Bristol that Zucchet would be the councilman to get the "no-touch" item on the council docket because Inzunza and Lewis "took money from us."
Malone told Bristol, "And that's where Ralph will use his charm with some of his other buddies to get me the votes I need."
To which Bristol responded, "Sounds like a piece of cake."
Copyright 2006 by 10News.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Images:
Read: 
Video: 
Discuss: 
