Colonies defendants to get one trial

One of four defendants in the Colonies Crossroads corruption trial has been denied his request to be tried separately.

An attorney for former San Bernardino County Supervisor Paul Biane argued Wednesday that Biane should receive a separate trial because he no longer faces the same charges as developer Jeff Burum, former Assistant Assessor Jim Erwin and Mark Kirk, one-time chief of staff to Supervisor Gary Ovitt.

In August, Biane asked for a separate trial after Judge Michael Smith dismissed a conspiracy count against all four defendants.

Prosecutors countered by saying that all of the charges filed in the case stem from same allegation, a view that Smith ultimately sided with.

“It’s clear that all of the charges are part of the same transaction,” said Smith, who during the hearing re-arraigned all four defendants and entered not guilty pleas each of them.

The prosecution maintains that Burum, while he was developing Colonies Crossroads in Upland, paid $400,000 to bogus political action committees that were controlled by the other three defendants. Burum is alleged to have made those payments to speed up a $102 million settlement, which the county paid in 2006, to resolve the placement of a flood control channel on the property where the retail-residential property was to developed.

All four defendants maintain their innocence and say the charges against them are politically motivated.