WEST

ROSEN JURY BEGINS DELIBERATIONS

LOS ANGELES – A federal court jury began deliberating yesterday in the criminal trial of the national fund-raising director for Senator Clinton’s 2000 campaign, David Rosen.

Mr. Rosen, 38, is charged with causing the filing of two false campaign finance reports in connection with an August 12, 2000, gala concert that benefited Mrs. Clinton’s Senate bid. If convicted on the two felony counts, he faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000.

During four hours of deliberations yesterday, the jury requested a videocassette recorder to watch an exhibit in the case, an ABC News “20/20” story about the key financial backer of the gala, Peter Paul. Paul was then a high-flying Internet entrepreneur but is now awaiting sentencing on a stock fraud charge.

Judge Howard Matz rejected a last-minute request from the defense that the jury be instructed that a guilty verdict requires a finding that Mr. Rosen deliberately broke the law. If Mr. Rosen knew the financial information he provided about the concert was false, that would be a sufficient basis for a conviction, the judge ruled. Prosecutors said the concert cost more than $1.2 million, but campaign disclosure reports put the amount at about $525,000. A letter prosecutors sent to the defense in March indicates that the Federal Election Commission reviewed the alleged understatement and determined that it did not aid Mrs. Clinton’s campaign. “The amount actually expended by the federal account remains higher than required by law,” the letter said. Defense lawyers failed in an attempt to introduce the letter at Mr. Rosen’s trial.

The jury, which includes seven men and five women, is to resume deliberations this morning.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

SOUTH

FOUR TENNESSEE LAWMAKERS ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY TAKING BRIBES

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Four state lawmakers, including a member of one of Tennessee’s most powerful political families, were indicted yesterday on charges of taking bribes from FBI agents posing as representatives of an electronics-recycling company.

In a sting operation dubbed “Tennessee Waltz,” the FBI set up a bogus company called E-Cycle Management Incorporated, then doled out payoffs to lawmakers to sponsor a bill that would allow the business to buy and sell used electronic equipment from the state. The bill was withdrawn Wednesday.

One of the lawmakers charged, state Senator John Ford, a Democrat, allegedly received payments totaling $55,000, beginning last year. “You are talking to the guy that makes the deals,” Mr. Ford boasted to the undercover agents, according to the indictment. Mr. Ford was also charged with attempting to threaten or intimidate potential witnesses by telling an undercover agent that “if he caught someone trying to set him up he would shoot that person,” prosecutors said.

The other defendants – Senators Kathryn Bowers and Ward Crutchfield, both Democrats, and Rep. Chris Newton, a Republican – were charged with accepting lesser amounts. A former state senator, Roscoe Dixon, was also charged, as were two non-elected officials. Mr. Ford’s brother is Harold Ford, who served 11 terms in Congress. His nephew Rep. Harold Ford has served five terms in Congress and said Wednesday he would run in 2006 for the Senate seat being vacated by the Republican majority leader, Bill Frist.

– Associated Press

WEST

JACKSON PROSECUTORS TO SHOW TAPE OF ACCUSER TALKING TO POLICE

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – Michael Jackson’s prosecutors will be allowed to play a tape of the accuser’s first police interview, but the judge refused their bid yesterday to show jurors in the child molestation case pictures of Mr. Jackson’s genitalia. The defense said that if the 2003 interview is played they would seek to put the boy back on the witness stand, setting the stage for a possible second face-off between accuser and defendant just before the case goes to the jury.

Defense attorneys said they may also want to call the boy’s mother and other witnesses. The case had been expected to go to the jury next week, but that became uncertain with the possibility of extensive new testimony.

Prosecutors, who sought the ruling in the midst of their rebuttal presentation, contend the videotape will show that the boy’s story has been consistent. Defense attorney Robert Sanger argued that the tape contains “prejudicial material” including officers telling the boy, “You’re really brave. We want you to do this.”

Judge Rodney Melville sided with prosecutors but suggested cutting down the tape. “It seems to me that playing a half hour of it would be enough,” he said.

– Associated Press