It was obvious during the trial that the jury didn't like Robin Williams. One member actually turned away from him as he testified last week. But nobody we knew thought they would convict him on all 17 counts of theft, health-care fraud, money laundering and bribery in siphoning off millions from the Community Mental Health Center of East Central Georgia. And many thought Duncan Fordham, Chad Long and Rick Camp would walk, but they didn't.
The jury also wasn't fooled by the way Mike Brockman's defense played up his being a decorated Marine combat veteran who served two tours of duty in Vietnam. Prosecutor Harrison Kohler effectively countered in closing arguments by recounting his own Vietnam experience when his company was pinned down under enemy fire and the officers were frozen with indecision. It was a sergeant who saved them.
"A hero is a person who takes responsibility," Mr. Kohler told the jury. Mr. Brockman blamed everyone but himself.
Trial-watcher Joe Vignati, a former deputy director at the mental health center, said the first two days of testimony were confusing, but on the third day "the jury fully understood the enormity of the check kiting and money laundering that went on."
That was the day when Mr. Williams' girlfriend, Patricia Fink - a former Hooters girl - took the stand and testified that Mr. Williams paid her $10,000 a month to run errands and entertain, half of which she used to pay for a $1.1 million condo in Hilton Head that they were buying. She said Mr. Brockman hired her to work at the mental health center, but she couldn't remember her job title or what she did there.
And Mr. Long, grandson of the legendary Georgia House Speaker Tom Murphy, has embarrassed that family. His mother was there every day of the trial and afterward was overheard to say when a supporter asked her how she felt: "Sad. I love my son."
What a Mother's Day present.
FAST-Talking Politician: Mr. Williams' attorney Bruce Morris tried to slow Mr. Williams down at least seven times during his testimony. At one point, the court reporter had to ask them both to slow down.
CELEBRITY WATCH: Atlanta Braves baseball hall of famer Phil Neikro showed up to testify on behalf of Mr. Camp, his old teammate. And former Richmond County Sheriff Charles Webster took the stand to describe Mr. Fordham as a longtime friend and honest man. Mr. Fordham, the owner of Duncan Drugs on Peach Orchard Road, had a lock on supplying drugs for the county jail in the 1990s, much to the dismay of other pharmacy owners.
State Rep. Henry Howard testified for Mr. Williams and said, "I never had no reason to doubt anything he said to me." Mr. Fordham also is a friend with a good reputation in south Augusta, he said.
The question we have is about someone who did not testify, and that is Sharon Haire, the center's clinical director who blew the whistle on the conspiracy with a damning letter that triggered the state and federal investigation.
Mr. Williams threatened to sue her as he did anybody who called his hand. The center's governing board did sue Phyllis Holliday for libel. She signed a letter that listed poor services and questionable audits and hiring practices. She also said Mr. Williams unfairly influenced the hiring of family and friends at the center.
For her efforts, Mrs. Haire lost her job, health insurance and retirement. Her husband, who also worked at the center, was fired, too, after going berserk and attacking another employee he thought had mistreated his wife.
Mrs. Haire felt betrayed by the center's board, and the couple left Augusta bitter and disillusioned.
NOTE TO SELF: When engaging in corruption, don't write yourself a memo detailing what you know. Mr. Williams' attorney confronted former center executive Jim Points with such a memo. "Robin Williams shortchanges us on one hand and expects us to allow business as usual on the other." After a list of people Mr. Williams got jobs or contracts for, Mr. Points wrote, "Is there a chokehold?" The memo was entitled "hit parade list."
AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN: Congratulations to former Georgia House Speaker Pro Tem Jack Connell on receiving the Augusta Bar Association's 2005 Liberty Bell award at the annual Law Day banquet last week. Mr. Connell was a bombardier-navigator during World War II and flew 79 missions over Europe. He was the longest-serving speaker pro tem in the nation, holding that second-highest ranking position in the state Legislature for 26 years.
MUSIC TO WHOSE EARS?: Mayor Bob Young held a pre-James Brown statue dedication news conference last week at which he distributed a list of the $5,000-and-up donors whose names will be inscribed on a plaque. Topping that list was the name "Usher." Because the only Ushers I know are the ones whose house fell in that Edgar Allan Poe story, I asked who Usher was. When their shock wore off, they informed me he just "swept the Grammys this year."
I said I didn't watch the Grammys. What I didn't say was I don't waste my time on such trash. Besides, I like classic country 'cause I was country when country wasn't cool.
ITCHING FOR REVENGE?: Mayor Pro Tem Marion Williams' latest crusade is against tires being stored outside where they can accumulate water and breed mosquitoes. He wants to amend city ordinance to prohibit it. But at last week's commission meeting, he was unable to convince enough of his colleagues to get his ordinance change approved, partly because he had, by the time it came up, alienated most of them with his haranguing on various issues to the point they voted against every single thing he proposed.
A case in point is public works. Mr. Williams is still angry about the public works breakup in March (spearheaded by Commissioner Jimmy Smith, whose son owns Smith Tires on Gordon Highway). Mr. Williams has placed the issue on every committee and commission meeting agenda since then - about six total. When the item comes up, he starts hounding Administrator Fred Russell about the status of public works even though Mr. Russell has given him the information more than once. When the commission voted against his proposed ordinance change last week, Mr. Williams promised to do the same with the tire issue.
"For whatever reason, we're not ready to vote on it, but we will talk about it, I'll guarantee you that," he said.
That's a given. But strangely enough, the mayor pro tem often gets his way using such tactics. He just wears them down.
Meanwhile, one of Augusta's largest tire dealers, Republican state Sen. Jim Whitehead, said maybe he shouldn't have fought the pay increases for the Augusta mayor and commission in the General Assembly this year.
"I just said I would not support it, and I would fight it," Mr. Whitehead said. "I'd rather not go any further than that. I probably did more than that. I'm saying, 'probably.'"
But Mr. Williams said if Mr. Whitehead thinks he's tackling the mosquito problem because of him, he's sadly mistaken.
"I've got a lot of other priorities besides Jim Whitehead," he said. "He's the last thing on my list."
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "A mosquito does not know the difference between a new and used tire."
- Marion Williams, May 3
City Ink thanks staff writer Sandy Hodson for her major contributions to this week's column.
Reach Sylvia Cooper at (706) 823-3228 or sylvia.cooper@augustachronicle.com.
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