By BJ Austin, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-859004.mp3
Dallas, TX –
Former Dallas City Councilman Don Hill appeared at ease, speaking directly to jury members during his first full day on the witness stand in his bribery and extortion trial. KERA's BJ Austin reports.
Prosecutors say Hill and four others pressured two low-income housing developers to hire certain minority vendors and contribute to certain things or risk losing key approval-votes on the City Plan Commission and City Council. As former Councilman Hill took the stand, the government played a new wiretap conversation. It appeared to be a discussion between Hill and the late Lynn Flint Shaw about shaking-down a company interested in a maintenance contract in the downtown Arts District.
Defense attorney Ray Jackson says Hill is giving jurors a very different picture than the one painted by the prosecution.
Jackson: They have a lot of evidence. But we expect the jury has heard the evidence. We expect him to explain the evidence. And once he does that, we think that the jury's going to see the evidence from Mr. Hill's viewpoint.
Hill will be on the stand for at least a couple-more days next week.