Defense Takes Spotlight in Colonies Trial

Opening arguments in the Colonies corruption trial continued today, with a defense attorney taking a series of shots at much of the prosecution’s case against his client and the three other defendants.

Attorney Raj Maline, who began his opening remarks Wednesday by comparing the county’s case to a photograph that looks accurate but tells a misleading story, expanded on those comments during the second day of trial in San Bernardino County Superior Court.

Maline told the jurors that the four defendants – Rancho Cucamonga developer Jeff Burum, former county Supervisor Paul Biane, Jim Erwin, former assistant assessor for San Bernardino County and Mark Kirk, one-time chief of staff to former Supervisor Gary Ovitt – engaged in no illegal conduct.

In fact, Colonies Partners, Burum’s investment group, were lied to and deceived repeatedly by county officials, Maline told the jurors.

All four men face bribery and corruption charges in connection with the development of Colonies Crossroads and Colonies at San Antonio, the 434-acre residential and commercial development in Upland.

Burum is alleged to have paid $400,000 in bribes to former Supervisor Bill Postmus and the other three defendants in the form of donations to political action committees. Those payment settled Burum’s 2002 lawsuit against the county and made it possible to develop both projects, according to prosecutors.

But Maline, who is representing Erwin, sought to dismantle the bribery allegations. Those “bribes” were in fact legal donations that were made well after infrastructure issues related to the 434-acre property were settled, Maline said.

“If you’re going to bribe someone, you don’t do it after the fact,” Maline told the nine-woman, three-man panel. “You also wouldn’t do it by donating to a political action committee, where everything is out in the open. These were perfectly legal political donations.”

Maline also noted that the Board of Supervisors, voted seven times to resolve the matter before it was finally settled in November 2006, in part because the county was racking up close to $7 million in legal fees in connection with the dispute.

“There was no incentive for Colonies Partners to bribe anyone,” Maline said. “They were winning. They had all of the momentum.”

Maline might have drawn some of his strongest arguments from comment made by San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Christopher Warner, who in 2006 handed down several decisions regarding the transport of water across the Colonies property as well as infrastructure issues there.

The judge accused the county of “fraud and deceit’ in its dealings with Colonies Partners and called the county’s overall behavior in the matter “reprehensible,” Maline told the jury.

Erwin is being tried separately. Opening arguments for the remaining three defendants are expected to begin Monday.