> Defense's dilemma: Should Slade testify?
> By BRIAN ROGERS, Houston Chronicle
>

0ctober 2, 2007
> As the prosecution rested Thursday in the financial mismanagement trial
> of ousted TSU President Priscilla Slade, the question now is whether
> she will take the stand.
>
> Since the trial opened more than a month ago, prosecutors have said
> Slade went on a spending spree with the university's money, a theme
> reinforced by witness after witness describing what Slade bought with
> Texas Southern University dollars.
>
> That included a $9,000 bed with a $5,000 mattress set; $4,000 in silk
> bedding; a $17,000 sofa; a $15,000 entertainment center; $10,000 for
> silk chairs; and $8,000 for two nightstands.
>
> Mike DeGeurin, her attorney, declined to say whether Slade will speak
> when the defense presents its side today.
>
> DeGeurin also disputed that Slade was offered a plea deal, as a
> prosecutor said Thursday.
>
> During a break in the trial, Harris County Assistant District Attorney
> Donna Goode said that months before the trial began, prosecutors
> presented an offer that would have sent Slade to prison for 25 years
> had she pleaded guilty.
>
> DeGeurin called the offer a "damn lie" and said he had no recollection
> of it. "If there had been an offer like that, I would have discounted
> it and thrown it out the window," he said.
>
> Of course, Slade is presumed innocent, so the onus lies on prosecutors
> to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Slade's actions were criminal.
>
> DeGeurin has no duty to put on a single witness, including Slade, who
> is accused of spending more than $500,000 of TSU money on personal
> expenses. Charged with misapplication of fiduciary property of more
> than $200,000, Slade could face a punishment ranging from probation to
> life in prison if convicted of the first-degree felony.
>
> A well-known defense attorney, DeGeurin has fought tooth and nail over
> every exhibit and most statements by witnesses - guided by his mantra:
> "You have to fight every step of the way to ensure a fair trial."
>
> To decide whether she should testify, DeGeurin has to figure out what
> the jurors are thinking.
>
>
> Cross-examination risks
>
> On one hand he has a client well-known for her ability to communicate
> her thoughts, turn words into actions and sell her point of view.
>
> On the other hand, Goode and Assistant District Attorney Julian Ramirez
> would capitalize on the chance to cross-examine Slade on every single
> expenditure she made in six years.
>
> True to his opening statements, DeGeurin tried to make witnesses say
> that Slade raised enrollment rates, improved efficiency and worked
> round the clock to turn the long-troubled university around.
>
> He also has tried to impress upon jurors a perception shared by former
> regents and university staff that she was hired as a "first-class"
> businesswoman who was doing a good job.
>
> In testimony, several regents appeared to have been enamored of Slade's
> style and can-do attitude, at least at the start of her six-year
> tenure.
>
> And while she has been engaged in the trial, taking notes and talking
> to DeGeurin, actually telling what happened in her own words may win
> some votes in the jury room - if she can convince them.
>
> Goode, who is the chief of the major fraud division, and Ramirez, also
> a seasoned trial attorney, have made short work of box after box of
> complicated financial records. The two cut the expected six- to
> eight-week trial down to about a month.
>
> Goode has said that Slade "hit the ground running" when she began
> spending public money in 1999 for renovations to her Missouri City
> home, including new flooring, a roof, landscaping, more than $8,000 in
> custom draperies and thousands of dollars in furniture.
>
> From the men who installed the flooring and the stereo system in her
> house to the women who measured her drapes and kept the books at her
> favorite furniture store, jurors heard from about 30 witnesses about
> every facet of Slade's spending.
>
> The most anticipated exhibits were $40,000 in fine china, crystal
> stemware and silverware for 25 that Goode trotted out in their original
> boxes.
>
> Slade is also accused of spending more than $130,000 on landscaping and
> $60,000 on security for the $1.3 million Memorial Park home she moved
> to in December 2005.
>
> DeGeurin has worked to defend the spending as either directed by
> someone else, approved by someone else, or reasonable and necessary for
> the university.
>
> He has also noted that virtually all the furniture and the dining set
> belong to TSU and are in storage at the university.
>
> Two district attorney's investigators wrapped up the case, trying to
> tie the entire package together with timelines and charts of Slade's
> alleged abuses.
>
> Aside from the investigators, the most comprehensive testimony probably
> was the combination of purchasing director Wanda Pleasant and her
> supervisor, Alice Rosemon. Both had an encyclopedic knowledge of
> purchasing procedures and detailed how they were thwarted.
>
> However, both admitted they knew they were doing wrong and said neither
> was following direct orders from Slade. They were listening either to
> then-CFO Quintin Wiggins or to Slade's personal assistant, Billy
> Burnett.
>
> DeGeurin also planted a seed with jurors by asking several witnesses if
> they knew that Slade had begun to investigate Wiggins after the
> allegations came to light.
>
>
> Others unlikely to testify
>
> Wiggins, Burnett, and Bruce Wilson are three voices the jurors have
> heard about, but probably won't hear from.
>
> Wiggins and Wilson are Slade's co-defendants. Wiggins was convicted in
> May in connection with the same allegations. He received 10 years in
> prison.
>
> Wilson, the former TSU senior vice president of administration, was
> expected to begin trial today. His new court date has yet to be set.
>
> DeGeurin has tried to pick apart the testimony to show that others, not
> Slade, were negligent in following the procedures. He has shown that
> Slade relied on the word of Burnett and the work of Wiggins.
>
> Jurors have heard plenty about Burnett, who was personal assistant to
> several TSU presidents, but neither side expects to call him to
> testify.
>
> DeGeurin has tried to emphasize that it was Burnett who arranged the
> purchases and the checks, giving Slade the impression that her actions
> were the normal course of business.
>
> Prosecutors will counter that Burnett was her agent. Burnett, after
> all, didn't reap the benefits, Slade did.
>
> And as a president hired to change a culture of financial mismanagement
> at the university, prosecutors have hammered that financial
> responsibility begins at home - and no one would expect to live like
> Slade did as a public servant.
>
> In the end, the six men and six women in the jury box must decide if
> Slade was working "24/7" to improve TSU, as DeGeurin said in his
> opening, or if she was on a spending spree, as prosecutors allege.
>
> brian.rogers@chron.com
>

Oct. 11, 2007
Jurors remain deadlocked in trial of ex-TSU president


2007 The Associated Press


HOUSTON — Jurors said Thursday they remain deadlocked in the Houston trial of Texas Southern University's former president accused of misspending school funds to decorate her homes.

Jurors are in their third full day of deliberations in the trial of Priscilla Slade. A day earlier, jurors said they were deadlocked but state District Judge Brock Thomas told them to continue.

Thomas says he will ask the jury to continue deliberating.

Prosecutors say Slade misspent more than half a million dollars of TSU funds. Her attorneys say all her purchases were legitimate. If convicted, she faces up to life in prison

More.



Oct. 11, 2007, 3:13PM
There could be problems if Slade is retried


By BRIAN ROGERS
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle


With jurors deadlocked in the financial mismanagement trial of ousted TSU President Priscilla Slade, experts point to possible problems with a new trial if the judge declares a mistrial.

"Not only has the entire community heard about the case," said Geoffrey Corn, a law professor at South Texas College of Law, "but they heard about the entire trial."

Corn said Slade's chances for a change of venue skyrocket if a mistrial is declared.

Slade is accused of spending more than $500,000 of Texas Southern University's money on personal expenses. She is charged with misapplication of fiduciary property of more than $200,000.

With an 8 to 4 split in the jury room, Corn said two camps have formed.

"If it was 11 to 1, there would be a higher probability that the one would change their mind," Corn said. "Eight to four is tough."

University of Houston Law Center professor Sandra Guerra Thompson agreed. "With that kind of split, it doesn't look good."

However, both said the judge will make the jury continue to work, especially if there is any movement between the camps.

"Basically the foreman has to tell the judge that it's futile," Corn said. "The judge can't force them to agree."

The defense was quick to ask for a mistrial Wednesday after jurors sent a note saying they were deadlocked. The note didn't indicate which way jurors were leaning. State District Judge Brock Thomas denied the request.

Jurors began deliberating at 2 p.m. Monday.

After receiving the communication from the jurors, Thomas advised lawyers on both sides that he was sending a note back, telling jurors to continue their deliberations. They resume deliberations today.

If the jury remains deadlocked, the judge can issue a final order imploring them to work through their differences before declaring a mistrial. The instruction, an Allen charge, reminds jurors that another jury will likely hear the same evidence and have to make the same hard decisions.

They also remind jurors that significant time and money went into the trial and probably would be repeated in a new trial.

The defense requested the judge issue the order on Wednesday, but he denied it.

Judges generally look at the length of the trial when deciding when to declare a mistrial. Because Slade's trial lasted about eight weeks, Thomas is unlikely to declare a mistrial within the first days of deliberations.

Slade's attorney, Mike DeGeurin, pointed out that, to at least some, the state had not met its burden.

"It means there are some people that are convinced she's not guilty and some people are convinced that she is," he said.

Prosecutors were tight-lipped Wednesday.

If they convict, jurors could choose to find Slade guilty of misapplication of fiduciary property of more than $200,000, a felony with a maximum punishment of life in prison.

Alternatively, they could convict her of a lesser offense of misapplication of fiduciary property of $100,000 to $200,000, a second-degree felony that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

brian.rogers@chron.com

I have my fingers crossed for TX.SO.

More. This is very sad.




The Trials and Tribulations of Texas Southern University



Enrollments at Texas Southern University, the historically black

educational institution in Houston, are at a five-year low. This fall 9,544

students enrolled. That enrollment number is a decrease of 15 percent

from a year ago. In 2004 there were 11,635 students on campus. Ninety

percent of the student body is black.



Rising tuition, the university’s dismally low graduation rate of 15

percent, and the announcement by the Southern Association of Colleges

and Schools that it is undertaking an unscheduled appraisal of the

institution, which could bring its accreditation into question, all have

undoubtedly hurt enrollment levels.



But a string of bad publicity has probably also played a role. As we

went to press the jury was deliberating in the trial of former TSU

president Priscilla Slade who is accused of spending hundreds of thousands of

university dollars for personal use. Also, a videotape, widely viewed

on the Internet, shows university students swatting at a swarm of bats

in a TSU dormitory. One student claimed to have killed dozens of bats

that had infested the building.

Ex-TSU President's Trial Ends Without Verdict
AP

Oct 12, 2007
HOUSTON - A mistrial was declared on Friday after jurors could not reach a verdict in the trial of Texas Southern University's former president who is accused of misspending school funds to lavishly decorate her homes. Priscilla Slade, 55, was charged with two felony counts of misapplication of fiduciary property with a value over $200,000.

I thought it was over, but???

March 7, 2008, 5:25PM
Ex-TSU officials may be forced to testify against Slade


By BRIAN ROGERS
2008 Houston Chronicle


Seeking testimony about "insider conversations," prosecutors are expected to ask a judge Monday to force two codefendants of Priscilla Slade's to take the stand against the ousted TSU president at her retrial later this month.

"We want to answer questions for jurors," Assistant District Attorney Donna Goode said. "We want to explain how she knew what was really going on."

Slade, whose trial is scheduled to start on March 31, is accused of spending more than $500,000 of Texas Southern University's money on her own lavish lifestyle. Her first trial on charges of misapplication of fiduciary property ended in a mistrial after the jury deadlocked.

State District Judge Brock Thomas will decide whether to make former chief financial officer Quintin Wiggins and former vice president of purchasing Bruce Wilson testify in exchange for limited immunity.

Wiggins is serving a 10-year prison sentence that he received last year for his role in the spending scandal. Wilson is awaiting trial.

If the two are forced to testify, the limited immunity will bar prosecutors from using their testimony against them later.

Goode said she expects Wiggins' attorneys to oppose his being ordered to testify, based on his constitutional rights. Wiggins is appealing his May conviction for misapplication of fiduciary property.

But Goode said she doesn't expect Wilson's attorneys to oppose the motion.

One of those lawyers, Ed Mallett, said he also expects Wilson to testify if forced by the judge. Wilson faces a lesser felony charge of misusing funds.

Goode said that Slade fired Wilson to help elevate Wiggins as her "money man." Wiggins, she said, worked closely with Slade during her seven-year tenure.

Stanley Schneider, an attorney for Wiggins, said he plans to fight prosecution requests for his client's testimony. He said Wiggins has "been used and abused by the system."

"The bottom line is that we don't think it's fair," Schneider said.

He said Wiggins won't be able to give a clear version of events while prosecutors and Slade's attorney, Mike DeGeurin, fight it out.

"He has never been able to tell his side of the story," Schneider said. "Neither side is going to like what he has to say."

He also said neither side will be allowed to interview Wiggins before his testimony, if the judge orders it.

Wiggins is appealing his conviction, based on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.

brian.rogers@chron.com