Beaumont Enterprise, The (TX)
Moore takes stand in defense
November 13, 2002
Section: A-Section
Page: A1
The Enterprise
Beth Gallaspy
Memo: MOORE & DAVIS: A PUBLIC TRIAL
Trial updates
Follow the trial of David Moore and John K. Davis all day long. Enterprise reporters update coverage throughout the day at www.SoutheastTexasLive.com and bring you trial highlights on the NBC 4 News at Six.
Illustration: Photo
Caption: Photo by Dave Ryan/The Enterprise - Jump page - Tuesday was the start of the defense lawyers calling witnesses in the trial of David Moore and John Davis. Here, after a break, Moore grabs the courthouse door for his attorney Dan Cogdell as the two return to the federal courthouse.
Former Mayor David W. Moore began testifying in his own defense Tuesday, describing his relationship with his family and with Terry Samuel.
Moore pointed out his mother, Annie Belle, and sister, Peggy, who have been in the courtroom through most of his federal trial that began four weeks ago.
He said his relationship with his wife, Elaine, is "better than ever." With their two sons, who are Lamar University students, it is "as good as most parents," he said.
After asking about Moore's youth in the Pear Orchard neighborhood and his French horn and football playing at Hebert High School, Moore's lawyer, Dan Cogdell, moved on into questions about Samuel.
Moore said former councilman John K. Davis, his co-defendant on charges of conspiracy, bribery, mail fraud and money laundering, introduced him to the San Antonio businessman at an April 1996 fund-raiser for Moore.
Samuel was convicted this past year of 26 federal felonies, including bribing Moore and Davis. He testified for the prosecution in hopes of a lighter sentence and dismissal of 67 pending charges.
Moore said during questioning by Cogdell that he first heard of Samuel a few years earlier because Samuel was building affordable homes in the city.
At the fundraiser, Moore said, Samuel gave him a $2,000 check as a campaign contribution. But, Moore said he returned the check a split second later because it was on a business account, which would have violated election code. He said he told Samuel he might want to give another check on a different type of account, but did not receive one before the May election.
Samuel presented the same check a few months later to lease office and storage space at 1090 Fourth St. from Sherman Investors, a business Moore worked with, Moore said. The check bounced, and Samuel never moved into the space, Moore said.
Moore also testified about two checks he received from Samuel later in 1996 for the purchase of a copier. He said Samuel agreed to pay $7,000 for the copier, which was stored at the Fourth Street building.
Moore, who has worked as a salesman for Xerox for 24 years, said the mid-volume copier sold for $15,000 new and provided a description of the copier's features like a sales pitch. He said he picked up the copier from a customer who wanted it removed from the property because it was not needed and told him he could do whatever he wished with it.
Moore said Samuel paid for the copier with a $3,000 check, which bounced then later cleared, and a $4,000 check, both made payable to Sherman Investors. He said he stored the copier for more than a year in the office space Samuel agreed to lease.
Samuel had testified that he first spoke to Moore about buying a copier at Moore's Xerox office and saw the copier at Moore's home on West Virginia Street. However, Moore said Samuel never visited his office. He said Samuel did visit his home, where he sometimes stored copiers, between 10 and 50 times. He also visited Samuel's home in San Antonio, he said.
"I thought we were becoming friends," Moore said.
After receiving both checks for the copier, Moore said, he asked Samuel to have his people pick up the copier and finish repairs on Moore's home. Samuel did neither, Moore said.
A leak in the roof of the West Virginia Street home worsened after one of Samuel's employees worked on the roof, Moore said, funneling water into a closet where he and his wife stored clothes and a bedroom.
Moore said he also had received complaints about slab problems on homes Samuel had built in the North End of the city. Those complaints were one reason for the number of calls Moore placed to Samuel and vice versa from 1996 to 1998, Moore said. Also, he was returning Samuel's calls, he said.
"I'm the type of person if you call me, I will try to call you back," Moore said.
Cogdell will continue questioning Moore in U.S. District Judge Richard Schell's court at 9 a.m. today. Prosecutors and Tom Burbank, Davis' lawyer, will have an opportunity to question Moore later.
Cogdell and Moore spent most of Tuesday's morning session outside the courtroom while Chip Lewis, who also represents Moore, argued for acquittal saying prosecutors had not proven their case.
When Cogdell and Moore returned to court, Moore sat on a hard wooden pew in the audience reading Song of Songs from a small Bible. Through most of the trial he has been in a cushioned leather chair at the defense table with a legal pad nearby.
Schell denied motions by Lewis and Burbank for acquittal.
Lewis argued that Samuel's testimony was not credible and no reasonable juror would believe him.
"I suspect he got his name right, but that's all I'm going to concede," Lewis said.
Prosecutor Joe Batte argued that credibility was an issue for jurors, not the judge or lawyers, to decide.
Reach this reporter at:
409-833-3311 ext. 425
