McGregor’s attorney: Total failure of proof

Published 12:00 am Thursday, August 4, 2011

Accused VictoryLand casino owner Milton McGregor’s attorney said in closing arguments of the bingo vote-buying trial that there “is a total failure of proof.”

Attorney Joe Espy told jurors, as he did in opening statements, that the prosecution’s case comes down to “the tapes, the three amigos and two crooks.”

The tapes were secret recordings of conversations collected by the FBI, none of which implicated McGregor, Espy argued.

Another McGregor attorney, Walter McGowan, spent his time assailing the “lies” of Gilley.

“This government case is full of reasonable doubt.” he said.

By the end of this week, jurors who have sat largely silent through weeks of testimony will get a chance to weigh in on charges that McGregor orchestrated a conspiracy to bribe state legislators to win passage of legislation that would have offered voters a chance to approve a constitutional amendment making electronic bingo legal.

Also on trial are a pair of lobbyists, a spokesman for the Country Crossing, a legislative analyst or four current or former state state senators.