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4.25.2001 00:05
Lawyers
meet
with
judge
• Federal prosecutors and attorneys for Providence Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr. and five other defendants spend 90 minutes in chambers with Chief U.S. District Judge Ernest C. Torres.
BY TRACY BRETON
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE
-- Lawyers on both sides of the federal corruption case against Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr. and five others met for the first time yesterday in chambers with the federal judge who will preside over the case.
Asst. U.S. Attorneys Richard Rose and Terrence P. Donnelly, and lawyers representing Cianci, Frank E. Corrente, Artin H. Coloian, Richard Autiello, Edward Voccola and Joseph A. Pannone, met for a little more than 11/2 hours with Chief U.S. District Judge Ernest C. Torres.
They declined to comment about what they had talked about in the private meeting in the judge's chambers. A notation on the court's electronic docket, written up by the judge's clerk after the meeting, said simply that there had been a pretrial conference in the case.
Yesterday was the deadline for the government to decide whether it would object to a motion filed by Cianci to have Boston lawyer Richard M. Egbert represent him in his multi-count corruption indictment. As of the close of court yesterday, there was no indication such an objection had been filed.
Last Friday, the U.S. Attorney's office filed court papers saying it might object to Egbert's continued representation of the mayor "based on possible conflicts of interest."
Egbert, who is not a member of the Rhode Island Bar, was hired by the City of Providence a year ago -- at Cianci's recommendation -- to represent the city in a yet-to-be filed civil rights/wrongful death lawsuit by the estate of slain Providence police officer Cornel Young Jr. Young's mother, Leisa Young, is seeking $20 million in damages from the city.
The city has already paid Egbert $25,388 for his services in the Young matter.
More recently, after Cianci was sued last fall by a city planner who was suspended briefly from his job after disclosing that he had paid a $5,000 bribe to get hired, the mayor asked Egbert to represent him at the city's expense. Egbert charged the city $525 per hour to defend against the civil racketeering and whistleblower's suit brought by senior city planner Christopher J. Ise. His bill in that case, which was settled out of court, came to $31,328.
Meanwhile, Cianci was featured yesterday in a story on NBC's
Today
show. In a taped interview with host Matt Lauer, Cianci listened to a recital of the charges against him and responded, "Not guilty."
The seven-minute segment, which featured shots of the Providence skyline and old film footage of Cianci's early days in City Hall, provided a retrospective of Cianci's roller-coaster career. Lauer asked Cianci if the mayor could be someone who loved Providence, but also a crook. Cianci replied that he was innocent of the charges against him and that he wants to continue to work to improve the lives of Providence residents.
Asked in closing by Lauer whether he had "nine lives," Cianci said he had one. "And I want to live it in peace, and I want to live it for the benefit of the city I love so much."
--
With reports from projo.com staff writer Zachary Block and Journal staff writer Mike Stanton
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