Manuel asks again to delay trial

Manuel asks again to delay trial

April 6 opening asked to be pushed to July

By RICHARD PRIOR
richard.prior@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 02/03/09


Attorneys for suspended St. Johns County Commissioner Tom Manuel have asked for another delay in his bribery trial, citing numerous problems with material provided by the prosecution.

The motion, filed Monday by Jacksonville attorneys William J. Sheppard and D. Gray Thomas, asks that the April 6 opening be delayed, preferably until July.

Sheppard and Thomas noted in the motion that the prosecutor doesn't object to another continuance because she has another trial set to begin April 13.

Manuel, 63, was indicted Oct. 16 on two counts of bribery following an 18-month investigation by the FBI.

The federal indictment charges him with soliciting and accepting bribes of $10,000 in April and $50,000 in June.

Court records indicate that Manuel's recorded conversations were with Atlantic Beach developer Bruce Robbins and his attorney, George McClure of St. Augustine, who were acting as government informants.

If convicted, he faces a possible sentence of 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

"Numerous and voluminous documents" turned over by the state - which nonetheless included incomplete, missing and "misleading" information - have delayed Sheppard's and Thomas's ability to mount a defense, according to the motion.

For instance, the attorneys said, the prosecution turned over "approximately" 24 discs containing audio or visual conversations that allegedly implicate Manuel in the bribery scheme.

Five of those discs "could not be opened in house or by an outside audio/visual company," the defense claimed. "There were 3 more that could be opened, but not duplicated."

Another disc - of an April 29, 2008, St. Johns County Commission meeting - was "noticeably absent" from the material originally turned over by the state, the motion read.

A review of the discs, which were given to the defense on Dec. 2, "indicated that there were potentially at least 4 missing discs, with an unknown number of missing recordings as several discs contain multiple recordings," the defense charged.

The amount of material, and the manner in which it was submitted by the prosecution, has made it "exceedingly difficult to review, organize, categorize and digest," according to the motion.

Sheppard and Thomas also objected to the submission of "copies of transcripts of selected conversations."

"It should be noted that these transcripts are only partial (as in the transcript is not of the entire recording start to finish) and contain various inaccuracies. ...," according to the motion.

The defense also charged that some information provided by the state "can be misleading."

A review of the recordings indicated that a "specific event was to take place," the motion read. "There was no recording of said event or any recording of the cancellation of said event."

The government allegedly said later that the recorder wasn't working.

"Additionally," the motion said, "the Government also advised at that time that three of the transcripts that were provided bore labels with the wrong dates."

Sheppard and Thomas also asked the court for a "temporary enlargement" of Manuel's travel restrictions so he could attend the christening of his grandchildren in New Canaan, Conn., between April 3 and 13.

Manuel's travel is presently restricted to Florida.

Gov. Charlie Crist on Dec. 23 appointed Ponte Vedra Beach resident Phillip J. Mays to serve during Manuel's suspension.

Mays was sworn in Jan. 6.



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