Mike Matthews reports from Federal Court on News Channel 3 at Noon.
Watch the Video.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Government's Timeline
Prosecutors questioned FBI agent Mark Jackson today. Jackson gave the jury a time line of the government's case against former State Senator John Ford.
John Ford and his family members left for lunch at noon, and court is now back in session.
The "Watchdog" will have live updates this afternoon on News Channel 3.
John Ford and his family members left for lunch at noon, and court is now back in session.
The "Watchdog" will have live updates this afternoon on News Channel 3.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Court dismissed
There's going to be one additional witness, but some of the information that the witness will be presenting isn't quite ready.
The judge has now excused us for the weekend...and it's only 4:30!
I think this is the first time I've seen glimpses of life in some of the jury members' eyes.
So until Monday at 9:30, I'm signing off.
The judge has now excused us for the weekend...and it's only 4:30!
I think this is the first time I've seen glimpses of life in some of the jury members' eyes.
So until Monday at 9:30, I'm signing off.
Cross-examining Davis
Scholl starts his cross-examination of Commissioner Davis by asking how Ford contacted her.
"He did not call me. He called my secretary and requested a meeting," says Davis.
She says in the analysis she looked at, the bill actually expanded the items to be surplussed - not only computers, but microwave ovens, telephones and other electronics. This is a good thing. Before only computers could be surplussed.
"It took the normal amount of time that it takes," says Davis when asked about how long it took her department to do the analysis.
Davis's department was already in the business of selling surplus items through an auction, so any competition in this area would take away from her revenue. She tells us that while she doesn't attend the senate meetings, she has people who will present a position on a bill on behalf of the department. She says these people will make an argument for or against the bill in relation to how it affects the department.
Still Davis was fair. While she might not have agreed with the bill, she did try to help E-Cycle get registed as a vendor.
"In order to contract with the State of Tennessee you have to become a registered vendor," says Davis.
Davis says the person from E-Cycle never followed up with her after they told him how to register --which of course makes sense now seeing as how E-Cycle was the FBI and they never really wanted to make the business work.
According to Davis, they introduced the E-Cycle representative to the director of the vendor department.
"She talked with him, gave him the information and we never heard from him again," says Davis.
"He did not call me. He called my secretary and requested a meeting," says Davis.
She says in the analysis she looked at, the bill actually expanded the items to be surplussed - not only computers, but microwave ovens, telephones and other electronics. This is a good thing. Before only computers could be surplussed.
"It took the normal amount of time that it takes," says Davis when asked about how long it took her department to do the analysis.
Davis's department was already in the business of selling surplus items through an auction, so any competition in this area would take away from her revenue. She tells us that while she doesn't attend the senate meetings, she has people who will present a position on a bill on behalf of the department. She says these people will make an argument for or against the bill in relation to how it affects the department.
Still Davis was fair. While she might not have agreed with the bill, she did try to help E-Cycle get registed as a vendor.
"In order to contract with the State of Tennessee you have to become a registered vendor," says Davis.
Davis says the person from E-Cycle never followed up with her after they told him how to register --which of course makes sense now seeing as how E-Cycle was the FBI and they never really wanted to make the business work.
According to Davis, they introduced the E-Cycle representative to the director of the vendor department.
"She talked with him, gave him the information and we never heard from him again," says Davis.
Commissioner Davis does not agree
Like Thursday, we are quickly going through witnesses. We are now on witness number four. Now on the stand is Gwendolyn Sims Davis.
Some of you already are familiar with Gwen Davis, but if you're not, she is the Commissioner of the State of Tennessee.
Davis remembers E-Cycle Bill 28 (the unamended version) and the discussions she had with Mr. Ford. The first discussion happened in Ford's office and she tells the court Ford inquired about the process of the disposal of computers.
If you've just tuned into the blog and don't know the history behind E-Cycle, the reason Ford was doing this was because E-Cycle was concerned that the schools got first dibs on the surplussed electronics and they didn't like that idea. E-Cycle asked Ford to check into it and see what could be done.
Ford went right to the source - Commissioner Davis. And she's one tough cookie when it comes to her department.
"I informed Senator Ford that schools got computers that were Pentium 4 and higher," says Davis.
Ford wasn't happy with this answer and told her that these computers weren't useful. He also implied some other things about Commissioner Davis that weren't exactly nice -- such as she didn't know "what the hell she was doing" and said that he would have to "come over there and run General Services for you."
"What did Ford want to do with the computers?" asked the prosecutor.
"At that time he said he didn't want them to go to the schools," says Davis.
Davis explained to him that there was a law which mandated that these computers do have to go to the schools. But her department did agree to do a bill analysis.
Mike Perry, the previous witness, did the bill analysis as per Commission Davis. This is common practice and Davis says that usually after the analysis, she approves the bills by signing it either 'yay' or 'nay'.
However, much to Ford's dismay, she was not in agreement with the E-Cycle bill.
"I considered it to be a bad bill because it would have taken revenue away from my department," says Davis.
Davis says it was unusual for her to get a call from someone who was adamant about changing a bill. She also says that shortly after their first visit, Ford called her back to his office to talk to E-Cycle. They wanted to know what needed to be done to get them signed up as a vendor.
Davis can't remember who she met with E-Cycle, but says she did tell them what steps they needed to go through to get signed up.
That's it from the prosecutors. Short and to the point.
Some of you already are familiar with Gwen Davis, but if you're not, she is the Commissioner of the State of Tennessee.
Davis remembers E-Cycle Bill 28 (the unamended version) and the discussions she had with Mr. Ford. The first discussion happened in Ford's office and she tells the court Ford inquired about the process of the disposal of computers.
If you've just tuned into the blog and don't know the history behind E-Cycle, the reason Ford was doing this was because E-Cycle was concerned that the schools got first dibs on the surplussed electronics and they didn't like that idea. E-Cycle asked Ford to check into it and see what could be done.
Ford went right to the source - Commissioner Davis. And she's one tough cookie when it comes to her department.
"I informed Senator Ford that schools got computers that were Pentium 4 and higher," says Davis.
Ford wasn't happy with this answer and told her that these computers weren't useful. He also implied some other things about Commissioner Davis that weren't exactly nice -- such as she didn't know "what the hell she was doing" and said that he would have to "come over there and run General Services for you."
"What did Ford want to do with the computers?" asked the prosecutor.
"At that time he said he didn't want them to go to the schools," says Davis.
Davis explained to him that there was a law which mandated that these computers do have to go to the schools. But her department did agree to do a bill analysis.
Mike Perry, the previous witness, did the bill analysis as per Commission Davis. This is common practice and Davis says that usually after the analysis, she approves the bills by signing it either 'yay' or 'nay'.
However, much to Ford's dismay, she was not in agreement with the E-Cycle bill.
"I considered it to be a bad bill because it would have taken revenue away from my department," says Davis.
Davis says it was unusual for her to get a call from someone who was adamant about changing a bill. She also says that shortly after their first visit, Ford called her back to his office to talk to E-Cycle. They wanted to know what needed to be done to get them signed up as a vendor.
Davis can't remember who she met with E-Cycle, but says she did tell them what steps they needed to go through to get signed up.
That's it from the prosecutors. Short and to the point.
Humphrey makes a repeat appearance
The prosecutor has now called Russell Humphrey back to the witness stand. If you remember, Humphrey was our first witness of the day and he's in charge of all the records in the Senate.
When it comes to John Ford and the bill, Humphrey says he didn't review the contents in the folder before he handed them over to the officers. He made photocopies and gave them everything he had.
Scholl is now questioning Humphrey's record keeping. It seems there was one mis-labeled bill included with the evidence. Bill 72 was in the same folder as Bill 94. Scholl wants to know if there is anything missing from the file.
"Everything that was retained in my copy of the file that I gave to the government is included in that file," says Humphrey.
That's it for Scholl. He had no further questions.
When it comes to John Ford and the bill, Humphrey says he didn't review the contents in the folder before he handed them over to the officers. He made photocopies and gave them everything he had.
Scholl is now questioning Humphrey's record keeping. It seems there was one mis-labeled bill included with the evidence. Bill 72 was in the same folder as Bill 94. Scholl wants to know if there is anything missing from the file.
"Everything that was retained in my copy of the file that I gave to the government is included in that file," says Humphrey.
That's it for Scholl. He had no further questions.
Micheal Perry...come on down
The prosecution has called Michael Perry as their next witness. Perry's job title is a mouth-full. He is the Assistant Commissioner of the State Department of General Services.
Scholl is asking Perry about surplus equipment and what they do with it.
"Someone has to determine what is useful and what is not?" asks Scholl.
As Assistant Commissioner, looking at old junkie equipment isn't Perry's job. He assumes this would be a clerical position. The State Department uses Unicore as their recycler and Perry says they put their equipment on the dock for them to come pick it up.
Perry says he never really went out to see the stuff in the warehouse, instead there was discussions and meetings with the warehouse personel.
We're now back to the fiscal note. Perry says they never changed the fiscal note on the E-Cycle bill. Instead when the bill was amended, the note was "deferred to the amendment". Perry terms this as "dismissive legislation".
Issues with the fiscal notes aren't frequent, but Perry says they probably have one during each term.
"We would attempt to workout a solution," says Perry.
"Did this bill benefit your department in it's original form?"
"No," says Perry.
"Did the amendment allow you to keep operating exactly as you are?"
"Yes," says Perry.
Scholl is asking Perry about surplus equipment and what they do with it.
"Someone has to determine what is useful and what is not?" asks Scholl.
As Assistant Commissioner, looking at old junkie equipment isn't Perry's job. He assumes this would be a clerical position. The State Department uses Unicore as their recycler and Perry says they put their equipment on the dock for them to come pick it up.
Perry says he never really went out to see the stuff in the warehouse, instead there was discussions and meetings with the warehouse personel.
We're now back to the fiscal note. Perry says they never changed the fiscal note on the E-Cycle bill. Instead when the bill was amended, the note was "deferred to the amendment". Perry terms this as "dismissive legislation".
Issues with the fiscal notes aren't frequent, but Perry says they probably have one during each term.
"We would attempt to workout a solution," says Perry.
"Did this bill benefit your department in it's original form?"
"No," says Perry.
"Did the amendment allow you to keep operating exactly as you are?"
"Yes," says Perry.
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