McMahan Seeks Dismissal Of Four Charges
Muskogee (By Tony Thornton/The Oklahoman) ~ Defense attorneys want a judge to dismiss four of nine criminal counts facing state Auditor and Inspector Jeff McMahan, saying in part there's no clear link between his acceptance of trips from businessman Steve Phipps and the alleged help the auditor later provided Phipps.
Motions filed Wednesday also seek dismissal of eight of the nine counts against McMahan's wife. Defense attorneys claim the corruption-related counts don't apply to her because she's not a public official.
A federal grand jury in Muskogee indicted the McMahans in January, alleging a tit-for-tat relationship with Phipps, who owns several abstract companies.
The auditor's office regulated the abstract industry until Jan. 1.
Phipps pleaded guilty last year to a separate conspiracy involving other politicians. He awaits sentencing. The McMahans have pleaded not guilty. Their trial is set for June.
Two counts allege the McMahans went on Phipps-funded trips to New Orleans in July 2003 and October 2004.
A year after the second trip, McMahan issued an administrative action that prosecutors say aided Phipps in a lawsuit filed against him by former state Sen. Gene Stipe, who co-owned the abstract companies.
However, that lawsuit wasn't filed until nine months after the McMahans went on the second trip.
The trips weren't bribes, the defense motion argues, because the McMahans couldn't have intended to help Phipps "in a lawsuit that had not even been filed yet and could not have been anticipated.”
"Common sense dictates there could be no connection between the trips and the civil litigation which led to the administrative action,” attorneys Kevin Krahl and Rand C. Eddy wrote.
Prosecutors haven't alleged that Lori McMahan went on the trips "for anything other than a vacation and/or merely as an attendee with her spouse,” the defense motion states.
Two counts accuse the McMahans of depriving the state of the honest services of a public official. Defense attorneys want those counts against Lori McMahan, a schoolteacher, dismissed.
They say she had no standing to help Phipps, "and there are no state or federal statutes or constitutional provisions conveying legal capacity to act as a public official simply by being married to a public official,” attorneys wrote.
The indictment alleges Lori McMahan accepted jewelry for herself and illegal campaign money for her husband from Phipps. In return, she agreed to use her influence on her husband, if necessary, to benefit Phipps, the indictment alleges.
Her attorney said there is no allegation that she ever actually used her influence concerning the administrative action.
Attorneys for both McMahans seek dismissal of two mail fraud counts involving the second New Orleans trip and a trip to Boston for the 2004 Democratic National Convention. The basis for both counts are materials the couple sent by mail to Phipps. One was a poster from Boston to thank Phipps for his support. The defense says the poster wasn't an aspect of any bribe.
Motions filed Wednesday also seek dismissal of eight of the nine counts against McMahan's wife. Defense attorneys claim the corruption-related counts don't apply to her because she's not a public official.
A federal grand jury in Muskogee indicted the McMahans in January, alleging a tit-for-tat relationship with Phipps, who owns several abstract companies.
The auditor's office regulated the abstract industry until Jan. 1.
Phipps pleaded guilty last year to a separate conspiracy involving other politicians. He awaits sentencing. The McMahans have pleaded not guilty. Their trial is set for June.
Two counts allege the McMahans went on Phipps-funded trips to New Orleans in July 2003 and October 2004.
A year after the second trip, McMahan issued an administrative action that prosecutors say aided Phipps in a lawsuit filed against him by former state Sen. Gene Stipe, who co-owned the abstract companies.
However, that lawsuit wasn't filed until nine months after the McMahans went on the second trip.
The trips weren't bribes, the defense motion argues, because the McMahans couldn't have intended to help Phipps "in a lawsuit that had not even been filed yet and could not have been anticipated.”
"Common sense dictates there could be no connection between the trips and the civil litigation which led to the administrative action,” attorneys Kevin Krahl and Rand C. Eddy wrote.
Prosecutors haven't alleged that Lori McMahan went on the trips "for anything other than a vacation and/or merely as an attendee with her spouse,” the defense motion states.
Two counts accuse the McMahans of depriving the state of the honest services of a public official. Defense attorneys want those counts against Lori McMahan, a schoolteacher, dismissed.
They say she had no standing to help Phipps, "and there are no state or federal statutes or constitutional provisions conveying legal capacity to act as a public official simply by being married to a public official,” attorneys wrote.
The indictment alleges Lori McMahan accepted jewelry for herself and illegal campaign money for her husband from Phipps. In return, she agreed to use her influence on her husband, if necessary, to benefit Phipps, the indictment alleges.
Her attorney said there is no allegation that she ever actually used her influence concerning the administrative action.
Attorneys for both McMahans seek dismissal of two mail fraud counts involving the second New Orleans trip and a trip to Boston for the 2004 Democratic National Convention. The basis for both counts are materials the couple sent by mail to Phipps. One was a poster from Boston to thank Phipps for his support. The defense says the poster wasn't an aspect of any bribe.
Labels: Jeff McMahan, Lori McMahan, Steve Phipps
posted by Mike McCarville @ 10:01 AM
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