Opening Statements Heard in Colonies Case

Attorneys in the Colonies corruption case began presenting their case to a jury today, as the prosecution concluded its opening statement in a trial for one of four defendants in San Bernardino County Superior Court.

In a presentation that lasted nearly three hours, Deputy District Attorney Lewis Cope told the nine-woman, three-man panel that Jim Erwin, former assistant assessor for San Bernardino County, participated in a multi-million dollar bribery scheme motivated by greed and a desire for political power.

“The evidence in this case will show that a line was crossed,” said Cope, the lead prosecutor in a trial that county and state officials have been working toward for nearly 10 years. “This trial is going to tell you the story of a developer who wanted to benefit his land and who wanted to make a lot of money quickly.”

Erwin, Rancho Cucamonga developer Jeff Burum, former county Supervisor Paul Biane and Mark Kirk, one-time chief of staff to former Supervisor Gary Ovitt, all 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 next to the Foothill Freeway.

Prosecutors allege that Burum paid $400,000 in bribes to former Supervisor Bill Postmus and the other three defendants. Those alleged payments settled a lawsuit Burum filed against the county in 2002 and paved the way for the development of both projects.

All four defendants have pleaded innocent to all of the charges against them and maintain those charges are politically motivated.

During his opening statement, Erwin’s attorney, Rajan Maline, compared the prosecution’s case to a picture that tells a misleading story.

“The story you just heard [from the prosecution] has no basis in reality,” Maline told the jury in a presentation that is expected to continue Thursday morning. “There was a dirty dead done, but it was done by the county against Mr. Jeff Burum.”

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