Ex-Del. Hamilton plans to testify in his federal bribery case

RICHMOND

Former state Del. Phil Hamilton will mount his defense against federal bribery and extortion charges beginning this morning. His attorney said Thursday that the ex-lawmaker plans to testify in the case, probably on Monday.

"Delegate Hamilton has always flatly denied that he took a bribe, and he looks forward to proclaiming it to the jury," said the attorney, Andrew Sacks.

Government attorneys rested their case against Hamilton on Thursday, and U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson rejected a defense motion to throw out the charges on grounds of insufficient evidence.

Today, the jury is expected to be shown a videotaped deposition of former Old Dominion University President Roseann Runte, taken last week in her office in Ottawa, Ontario, where she is president of Carleton University.

A now-retired ODU dean testified earlier this week that Runte told him to put Hamilton on the payroll of a new teacher training center at the university for which Hamilton was securing state funding in the General Assembly.

Hamilton was paid more than $80,000 by ODU over two years until the relationship became public knowledge in 2009. The veteran lawmaker, a Newport News Republican, was defeated for re-election that fall.

Runte has denied any involvement in or knowledge of Hamilton's hiring.

Government attorneys declined to comment Thursday on whether Runte could be charged in the case.

William Graves, the retired dean of education who implicated Runte, and David Blackburn, an administrator who worked for Graves, have been granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for their testimony.

Both admitted lying or omitting material facts when they were interviewed by the FBI and a House of Delegates ethics panel.

"There are significant issues of credibility, to be sure," Hudson said Thursday after Sacks argued for throwing out the charges. Nevertheless, Hudson said, there is sufficient evidence to allow the case to proceed to a jury verdict.

Sacks argued that the government failed to prove that there was a quid pro quo - an explicit agreement between Hamilton and ODU linking state funding for the teacher center to Hamilton's employment as director.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David Harbach, however, pointed to a series of emails between Hamilton and ODU administrators, months before the state funding was approved, in which both the funding process and Hamilton's job prospects were discussed.

Those emails alone, Harbach argued, are "plainly enough for a jury to conclude that there was a meeting of the minds - a quid pro quo."

The Runte deposition, unusual for a criminal trial, was allowed by Hudson after Runte argued in legal filings that her busy schedule as a university president made it impractical for her to travel to Virginia to testify in person.

In addition to prosecution and defense attorneys, Runte's lawyer was also present for the deposition.

Portions of the deposition, including frequent interjections by Runte's lawyer, were ruled inadmissible by Hudson and were edited out of the video.

Bill Sizemore, (804) 697-1560, bill.sizemore@pilotonline.com