Monday, October 04, 2004
Jury will get Burrow case Tuesday after hearing closing arguments
Updated 4:16 p.m.
CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The jury in the federal fraud trial of Richard Burrow has been sent home for the day.
Closing arguments have finished. The judge will give the jury its formal instructions Tuesday morning and then deliberations will begin.
On Monday, the jury was told that D-Day is not about monuments, it's about upholding the rule of law, a federal prosecutor argued in his closing argument in the federal fraud trial of Burrow, the former National D-Day Memorial Foundation president.
As prosecutor Patrick Hogeboom summarized his case against Burrow, he talked about soldiers from D-Day, up until today.
"They're not fighting to come back in 50 years and have a monument, they're fighting for a system of law," Hogeboom argued.
Burrow, 57, is on trial on eight counts of fraud in connection with how he raised funds for the $25 million Bedford monument. His first trial in December 2002 resulted in a hung jury. Lawyers in the case are expected to finish closing arguments today and then the case will go to the jury.
As prosecutors have throughout the trial, Hogeboom attempted to focus the jury on the prosecution's allegations.
"This case is not about monuments, this case is about fraud," argued Hogeboom, who also characterized Burrow as a "serial deceiver."
Burrow misrepresented facts to board members, the foundation's attorney, banks, a donor, and the state of Virginia, Hogeboom argued. As a result, he obtained millions from banks and the commonwealth of Virginia.
Defense attorney John Lichtenstein argued in his closing argument that evidence in the case showed that there was nothing wrong with Burrow seeking a bridge loan from a California bank to get $4.225 million in matching grants from the state in 2000.
And he argued that internal bank documents proved the funds were available, as Burrow certified to the state.
Lichtenstein also argued that the case is about Burrow's intentions — to find him guilty, the jury could have to decided that he had intended to commit fraud.
Lichtenstein argued that Burrow committed no fraud.
'What happened here is that the cost of this project got away from Richard Burrow. That is true," Lichtenstein argued.
The trial has broken for lunch and Lichtenstein is expected to continue his argument after lunch. Then federal prosecutor Tom Bondurant is expected to make an argument in rebuttal. Then the judge will likely give the jury instructions and they will decide on the case.
For background on the case, click here.
