PROVIDENCE — Prosecutors in former Lincoln Town Administrator Jonathan F. Oster’s bribery and conspiracy trial yesterday used Oster’s ex-campaign treasurer and a former town consultant to show a Superior Court jury that Oster and former Planning Board member Robert R. Picerno, convicted in 2004 on his own bribery charges, had a close financial and political relationship.

That relationship is key to the state’s case, as it charges Picerno was the one who collected the bribes and Oster was the one who manipulated town government to favor the ones who paid.

But defense lawyer C. Leonard O’Brien aggressively contested the state’s interpretation of the witnesses’ testimony, getting them to backtrack somewhat on their original statements. He suggested that their assertions were more the product of prosecutorial zeal than fact.

Oster is facing two counts of bribery and two counts of conspiracy in the trial, which finished its second day of testimony yesterday.

Assistant Attorney General Bethany Macktaz called Michael Hill, a Cumberland accountant and campaign treasurer for Oster’s three state Senate and town administrator campaigns, to describe Oster’s campaign finances. Hill testified that in 2000, the year Oster ran for town administrator, he raised $43,284. Of that, $10,655 came from a sit-down dinner fundraiser at the Aurora Club, an event Macktaz referred to as organized and orchestrated by Picerno, making the former Oster ally responsible for bringing in nearly a quarter of Oster’s campaign cash.

O’Brien tried to discredit that assertion. He got Hill to say he didn’t keep track of who sold tickets to such events, only who bought them. And he suggested that while the Dec. 13, 2000, fundraiser at the Aurora raised $10,655, that didn’t include expenses.

He suggested the event was dubbed a Picerno event by the police, not by Hill. Under O’Brien’s cross-examination, Hill, who said he remains friends with Oster, knew Picerno was involved in the event, but didn’t know the details.

That drew a sharp re-direct from Macktaz, who had Hill read testimony he gave previously in which he said Picerno “orchestrated and organized” the event.

“Those were my words, OK, yes,” Hill said.

The state also called L. Robert Smith, a civil engineer who worked for the town as an engineering consultant early in Oster’s 2000-02 term, handling engineering work for the Planning Board while Oster looked for a permanent hire for the town engineer position. Smith described how he was recruited by Picerno for the job. He also recounted having drinks with Oster and Picerno at the Lodge Tavern, where Oster told him if he had trouble reaching him, Oster, in the future, to call Picerno.

Under O’Brien’s questioning, Smith said while Oster told him to call Picerno if he needed to reach Oster, Smith said he never needed to. He also said that when Picerno had recruited him, Picerno was a member of Oster’s transition team, helping Oster put together his administrator’s office in early 2000.

Earlier in the day, the prosecution got several sets of documents entered into evidence concerning a Route 116 parcel known as the H&H Screw property. Oster is accused of conspiring with Picerno on two occasions to solicit bribes to sell the property, which the town controlled.

O’Brien tried and failed to keep out assessor’s office records about the parcel’s value, saying that Town Clerk Karen Allen was not the true custodian of the documents, but Associate Justice Gilbert V. Indeglia admitted them.

The day ended with former Lincoln police Detective Lt. Albert Martell testifying about a peculiar July 2001 land transfer involving Picerno’s Preakness Drive home. The house was transferred from Picerno to his son, despite that fact that there were tax liens for unpaid taxes on the property, which should have prevented any transfer of title until the back taxes were paid.

Martell testified no one in the assessor’s office could give him an explanation of how the transfer happened and that after consulting with then-Chief William Strain and Oster, he turned the information over to the state police.

jhill@projo.com