Judge sets limits for evidence, testimony during Sheriff Buncich's public corruption trial
Post-Tribune
July 27, 2017
A federal judge Thursday set limits on what evidence and testimony defense attorneys for Lake County Sheriff John Buncich can enter during his August public corruption trial.
Judge James Moody filed an order places limits on the how defense attorneys can discuss the sheriff's good acts outside the facts claimed in the indictment, arguments of selective prosecution, discussing criminal penalties for cooperating witnesses and allowing Buncich to only have three character witnesses testify, according to court documents.
Moody spent much of his order discussing how the defense could talk about the sheriff's good acts during the trial. The judge said the case involved an alleged bribery scheme involving tow truck operators and non-corrupt interactions with tow operators could be relevant.
"However, the indictment is limited to a scheme involving towing operators, and defendant's interactions with other vendors are irrelevant in the sense that they do not counter the government's theory or case," Moody said in the order.
But, Moody ruled that testimony from the warden or medical staff reportedly saying they were not told the engage in political activities are too remote from the scheme alleged by prosecutors, court documents said, and creates a danger of confusing or misleading the jury.
Buncich, former Police Chief Timothy Downs and William Szarmach, of C.S.A. Towing in Lake Station, were named in a multicount indictment in November alleging an illegal towing scheme in which the sheriff accepted bribes in the form of thousands of dollars in cash and donations to his campaign fund, Buncich's Boosters, according to court records.
Downs pleaded guilty in December and resigned his position at the Lake County Sheriff's Department, according to court documents.
Buncich and Szarmach pleaded not guilty to the charges after the indictments were filed in November and again in April when additional counts of wire fraud were filed with the court.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson filed a motion asking a judge to preclude Buncich's defense team from introducing evidence of the sheriff's lawfulness, non-corrupt conduct or lack of a criminal history; making comments in the jury's presence about the discovery process; and a number of other topics.
Bryan Truitt, one of Buncich's defense attorneys, filed a motion in opposition to prosecutors' request, and that the sheriff maintains he did nothing wrong and direct supervision over the towing program fell to Downs. Truitt said, in court filings, that testimony about the sheriff's job duties and character is needed to refute allegations of corruption.
"It befuddles the defense that the government seeks to restrict or limit the jury evaluating this case on less than all the facts or without a full perspective and context," Truitt added. "That a body supposedly interested in the pursuit of justice (the government) would seek to restrict the jury's consideration of all facts and circumstances surrounding the conduct of a defendant, is inexplicable. The jury does not leave their common sense at the courtroom door."
Moody said, in court documents, that rules of evidence allow opportunities to enter evidence on character when it is related to the charges.
"It is beyond question that character is not an essential element of any crime charged in the case, and the arguments of defense counsel on this point border on unprofessional," Moody wrote.
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