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7.21.2001 00:05
Ruling clears
Egbert to
defend Cianci
• But in another decision handed down in federal court yesterday, the mayor's campaign committee is denied access to most of its money.
BY TOM MOONEY
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE
-- Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr. won permission yesterday to have his lawyer of choice represent him in his upcoming corruption trial. But his campaign committee lost a battle to free up its $600,000 war chest, which prosecutors say was amassed through "bribes and extortion."
Both decisions came down from the bench of Chief U.S. District Judge Ernest C. Torres.
In his first decision, Torres cleared the way for Boston lawyer Richard M. Egbert to continue to represent Cianci, provided Egbert stops representing the city in all other cases.
Prosecutors argued last month that Egbert should be disqualified from the case because of potential conflicts of interest, namely that Egbert was also representing the city in its defense of the Sgt. Cornel Young Jr. wrongful-death lawsuit.
Young, a black off-duty officer, was fatally shot by two white police officers in January 2000 while trying to intervene in a fight outside a diner. His mother has filed a $20-million lawsuit against the city.
One of the officers involved in the shooting, Michael Solitro III, may be called as a government witness in the Cianci criminal trial to testify that some people allegedly paid bribes to join the Police Department, Torres said.
Egbert's involvement in both cases posed a "clear conflict of interest," Torres said, because Egbert could be in the position of defending Solitro's actions in the wrongful-death suit while attacking Solitro's credibility under cross-examination during the corruption case.
Further, Torres said, the City of Providence -- an alleged victim in the Cianci corruption case -- would expect the punishment of any perpetrators. It would be a conflict of interest, said Torres, for Egbert to represent both Cianci and the city.
Therefore, Torres listed a number of conditions that must be met by Aug. 8 if Egbert is to remain Cianci's lawyer:
• Egbert must stop representing the city in the Young case, and all other cases, until the Cianci trial is over.
• Cianci must waive his right to "conflict-free counsel" and any future claims arising from unfavorable "repercussions" of having Egbert represent him.
• Egbert must receive permission from several former clients with whom a possible conflict of interest could have existed. Those clients include codefendant Artin H. Coloian, Cianci's chief of staff; convicted felon Edward E. Voccola, who allegedly paid kickbacks to get the city to lease property he owned for School Department use; and Patricia Forte, Voccola's daughter.
Forte worked at Jere Realty, Voccola's real-estate company. A grand jury has alleged that Voccola converted checks from the real-estate company into cash to make the kickback payments.
Torres noted that one other potential conflict of interest raised by prosecutors -- involving city planner Christopher J. Ise -- no longer exists.
Ise sued Cianci last fall after he was suspended briefly from his job; he had disclosed that he paid a $5,000 bribe to get hired. Cianci hired Egbert to represent him. The allegation is now part of the criminal case against the mayor.
But Ise's case has been settled, Torres said, and therefore "the city can have no interest that would be in conflict with the interest of defendant Cianci."
Leaving the courthouse yesterday, Cianci seemed confident that all of Torres's conditions would be met and Egbert would remain his lawyer.
"I'm grateful," Cianci said. "I'm happy I can have the lawyer of my choice. It's a serious matter."
An hour later, Torres took up the issue of the mayor's campaign organization, the Friends of Cianci.
Torres had ordered the campaign assets frozen on April 3, the day after Cianci and five others were indicted on racketeering and corruption charges.
Last month during a hearing on the issue, Mark L. Smith, a lawyer for the campaign organization, said the committee wants to use the money for the mayor's reelection campaign and daily expenses such as car washes and gasoline.
Smith also alluded to the indictment, saying the only allegation of illegal money going into the campaign fund came in the form of $250,000 from the Providence Towing Association.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael P. Iannotti had argued that the entire amount should remain frozen. The campaign organization "was utilized to disguise bribes and extortion as campaign money," he said at the time.
Yesterday, Torres allowed the campaign fund's checking account -- with about $36,000 -- to be freed up to pay creditors and expenses.
But the rest of the money would remain frozen. Torres said the fund met the definition of property that could be subject to forfeiture should Cianci be found guilty.
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