Prominent area defense attorneys Wednesday said the newly released incriminating FBI wiretaps of former state Sen. Thomas Bromwell could hurt Bromwell?s defense and potentially bias his jury pool.
“It certainly doesn?t create a situation where people are going to be endeared to him,” said Baltimore-based lawyer Andrew Alperstein. “Does it make it harder to put on a defense? It definitely could.”
Baltimore attorney Richard Falcon agreed.
“From a defense counsel?s perspective, it?s a nightmare,” he said. “It?s a tough road.”
But wiretaps ? which include braggadocio, vulgarity and incriminating evidence ? aren?t impossible to overcome, several top attorneys said.
Baltimore attorney A. Dwight Pettit recommended a two-prong defense for Bromwell: damage control and allegations of unfairness.
“You?re talking about pretrial publicity in which your client is being tainted and being convicted before trial,” Pettit said. “You have to start thinking about what you can do to have damage control and start painting your client in a more positive light. That?s going to be quite difficult, quite a challenge, because in this case it?s your client?s own words.”
Pettit said Bromwell?s attorneys should be quick to challenge jurors for bias.
“You start decrying the fact you can?t get a fair trial,” Pettit said. “What the government is doing, they?re tainting the jury pool.”
Attorney Brian Murphy said lawyers could try to paint Bromwell as a braggart but not a criminal.
“How do you get around this stuff?” Murphy said. “You say, ?He?s bloviating. He?s a BS?er. He?s making himself bigger than he was, but he?s not a criminal.? ”
Still, Murphy said, almost any federal case is hard to win.
“Given their ability to prepare a case and cherry-pick a case, they shouldn?t ever lose,” Murphy said. “But there?s always a defense. No case is hopeless.”
Seven people so far have pleaded guilty in Bromwell?s case and agreed to testify against the powerful Democrat from Baltimore County.
While in office, prosecutors claim, a contractor gave Bromwell more than $85,000 in construction work on a new house and $192,000 for a no-show job given to Bromwell?s wife, Mary Patricia Bromwell.
In exchange, Bromwell helped the contractor?s companies win multimillion-dollar contracts, according to prosecutors. According to the wiretaps, Bromwell worried that his reputation would be destroyed by the FBI investigation into his activities.
“You know the only thing is right now, the embarrassment it?s going to be for my family,” Bromwell said in the wiretap. ” … I did 24 years of good stuff. I really did. Health care stuff and stuff like that. And one newspaper article will just make me look like a crook.”
