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February 18, 2006
Cotton Guilty: Verdict Reached at 6:15
The first trial in the Tennessee Waltz scandal ended tonight, but only barely. Judge Allan Edgar sent the jury a note at 6 p.m. calling a recess for the weekend and asking them to reconvine on Monday. The jury responded with a request: "They need five more minutes," Edgar read.
The verdicts were read at 6:15 -- after nearly 18 hours of deliberations. William Cotton was found guilty on one count of conspiring to commit extortion and one count of attempting to commit extortion. The jury found the County Commissioner not guilty of a second count of attempted extortion.
As a first time offender, Cotton likely faces three years in prison, according to reports. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 2; he remains free on bond until then.
In the course of deliberations, jurors listened four different times to an FBI wiretap of a January 29, 2005 conversation between Cotton and "bagman" Charles Love. "We need to hear it again," a 4 p.m. note from the jury read. "Please keep it cued up: We made need to hear it again after that."
The tape was evidence in the count of attempted bribery for which the jury found Cotton not guilty. Prosecutors said it featured Cotton rebuking Love for handling bribe money in public. "Don't take it that-a-way, Charles," Cotton said in the recording. "Go to the bathroom, come back. Go for a ride in the car, or whatever. That was too open."
News Update | By mesh | 06:52 PM
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