Cook County Circuit Judge Reginald Holzer was a man whose finances were
”a junkyard” and who was perched on the edge of bankruptcy, but he was not a corrupt jurist who committed a federal crime, his lawyer declared Friday.
Invoking the Declaration of Independence in an emotional, fist-pounding argument, Edward L. Foote, implored the jury hearing Holzer`s corruption trial to acquit his client.
Foote leveled a scathing attack on the government for having granted immunity from prosecution to more than a dozen witnesses who testified that they arranged for loans to Holzer. But the government produced no testimony that there was a relationship between the financial benefits and any advantages the witnesses received, he said.
”How can this case be established beyond a reasonable doubt when the immunized witnesses deny the crime?” Foote said.
Holzer, Foote said, ”is about the only one I ever heard of who had a 13- year corruption plan that ends up in bankruptcy.”
Holzer did not know of the intent of the lawyers and court-appointed receivers who lent him money, Foote said. ”You`ve got to have more than speculation. There isn`t an ounce of evidence of what was in my client`s head,” he said.
”Each of these cases were necessary, and the fees were not excessive,”
Foote said. ”Ladies and gentlemen, where is the federal crime?”
Foote reminded the jury of a defendant`s ”inalienable right” to be found guilty ”beyond a reasonable doubt. . . . Please do not compromise my client`s life. My client`s life is in your hands. It is a thread you can hold onto.”
Holzer, 58, is on trial on charges of racketeering, mail fraud and extortion. He is accused of using his position to obtain $200,000 in loans from lawyers and court receivers who appeared before him between 1974 and 1984. Most of the loans have not been repaid.
Foote addressed the jury as the trial, now in its sixth week, neared its end. U.S. District Judge Prentice Marshall was to instruct the jury later Friday. And its members were to begin deliberations and work over the weekend, if necessary.
Foote also criticized the government for introducing evidence of the earnings and spending habits of Holzer`s wife, Estelle, who testified on behalf of her husband. ”Are we going to judge my client`s criminal conduct by the amount of money she spent at a certain store?” Foote said. ”That the money should have been spent on the judge`s ridiculous debts?”
Foote added, ”Was it done to make you angry? Will you punish my client?
Does it add a scintilla to the junkyard of finances of Reggie Holzer and his mental state?”
Holzer`s daughter, Bambi, sat next to her sister, Audrey, and their mother in the front row of the packed courtroom and began to weep silently as Foote recounted how Estelle left a job as a substitute teacher in 1968 for an insurance career that now generates more than $100,000 a year in income.
”I don`t think you should judge my client`s behavior by the success or failure of his wife,” Foote said.
