In a series of notes sent to U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer during deliberations, the panel expressed confusion over the elements and definition of bribery charges alleged by prosecutors to be at…
By FRED SHUSTER | City News Service
Jurors also questioned whether taking “an official action where one of the motives is to influence county business” is unlawful. As an answer to several queries, the judge told panelists to simply “refer back to the jury instructions previously given.” Before the crowd of trial-watchers — consisting mostly of Ridley-Thomas supporters — entered the courtroom late Friday to hear the jury’s latest question, the defendant thanked those who have remained at the courthouse throughout the jury’s discussions.
Federal prosecutors based their case on a long string of emails and letters to bolster allegations that then-County Supervisor Ridley-Thomas and the former dean of the USC School of Social Work, Marilyn Flynn, had a quid pro quo arrangement during 2017 and 2018 in which the then-dean arranged for Sebastian’s admission to USC, a full-tuition scholarship and a paid professorship in exchange for his father’s support for county proposals that would ostensibly shore up the school’s shoddy financial...
As for the contention that Ridley-Thomas participated in a secret scheme whereby Flynn funneled $100,000 “seed money” from the politician’s campaign fund through the school to the Policy, Research & Practice Initiative, a nonprofit operated by his son who had recently stepped down from the California Assembly, Durie argued that nothing the politician did was illegal.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Morse told the panel, however, that Ridley-Thomas made the alleged exchange to benefit his son, who had resigned from the Assembly amid an internal sexual harassment probe that was about to go public at the peak of the #MeToo movement.
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