Ford trial moves to closing arguments

After witnesses take the Fifth across the board, Ford's attorney rests his case

Email | Print By Frank Shyong

John Ford

Isaiah Gant, defense attorney for former State Sen. John Ford, formally rested his case at 1 p.m. today after all three of his witnesses exercised their right to the Fifth Amendment and refused to testify.

Craig Kasten, Doral’s board chairman, and William Brooks, CEO of United American Healthcare, took the stand before noon only to express their refusal to testify. Former OmniCare CEO Osbie Howard Jr., who showed up this morning without a lawyer, would follow suit a few hours later after being advised by Judge Campbell to retain counsel and consulting with criminal defense lawyer Jodie Belle.

Gant rested his case shortly after Howard’s testimony. In his closing statements, Gant strenuously argued that the prosecution was merely matching a negative perception with circumstantial evidence. Government prosecutor David Rivera highlighted several recorded telephone conversations in which Ford incriminates himself in his closing statement, including one where the former Senator told an undercover FBI agent, “pay me for the result. That’s what I told Doral.”

Today’s fairly conspicuous absence of any substantive testimony follows Gant’s cycling through a number of witnesses in his defense yesterday. Gant had been attempting to show that Ford had not had any improper influence on the bidding process for a TennCare contract and that the work he had done for contractor OmniCare had been in Georgia, where the company had been hoping to expand. By opting to avoid self-incrimination, today's witnesses left the defense in the lurch with little to add.

Tomorrow will see the jury receive its instructions before retiring to determine a verdict.