It wasn't a fair trial, witnesses say

The judge unfairly squelched Traficant's defense, a former Warren firefighter said.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
AND BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITERS
YOUNGSTOWN -- One of U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr.'s character witnesses said after Thursday's guilty verdict on all 10 counts that he didn't think the congressman got a fair trial.
"He had his days in court, but he really did not have his day in court," said the Rev. Robert Saffold of Shaker Heights, a former Warren firefighter and amateur boxer, who prefers to be called Brother Bob.
"He was not before a jury of his peers. There were no jurors from the Mahoning Valley, and he went before a judge and a jury who were not from his area," said Saffold, who testified in Traficant's racketeering trial last week.
Safford also observed that the jury, which consisted of 10 women and two men, could have consisted of nine women and three men if the male juror, who was excused because of a death in the family, had been replaced by a male alternate. Saffold, who said he has two daughters who are lawyers, said he didn't intend his observation as a slight against women.
"I really don't think the judge gave him a chance to present himself squarely or fairly. There were too many objections from the prosecutor to Mr. Traficant's questions that the judge allowed," Saffold said.
On the witness stand, Saffold, who is black, said Traficant is honest, fair and objective and has always been a champion of minorities.
'Travesty of justice': "I just feel bad. It was a travesty of justice," said Michael S. Terlecky of Canfield, who was convicted 12 years ago of taking mob bribes while a lieutenant in the Mahoning County Sheriff's Department. Traficant had advocated a presidential pardon for Terlecky, who maintains his innocence, but the request was denied.
As for the conviction of Traficant on all 10 counts, Terlecky said, "I wasn't surprised. I didn't think he had a fair shot at it. His defense was severely restricted. The jury spoke, but I don't really think they heard everything they should have heard." However, he said he felt no animosity toward anyone involved in the case.
"I'm still proud to be living in America even though I'm very disappointed," Terlecky said, adding that he thinks the case will probably go before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Terlecky testified that Charles P. O'Nesti, an aide to Traficant who died in February 2000, told him he never gave the congressman a kickback.
Not subpoenaed: Henry Nemenz of Poland was on the list of potential witnesses for the government but was not subpoenaed to testify. A longtime friend of Traficant's, he was surprised at the 10-for-10 guilty verdicts.
"Maybe [Traficant] damaged himself by some of his antics. I don't know," said Nemenz.
The government said Traficant used workers provided by Nemenz to build a pole barn/riding arena at his horse farm in Greenford, but paid only $25,000 for the $89,000 job. The barn was erected in 1994 by six Amish craftsmen hired by Nemenz's Colonial Structures.
Nemenz said Traficant continually told him to not invoice everything, but he did it anyway and was ultimately able to prove that he'd done nothing wrong.
"We had everything documented in black and white," Nemenz said.