Prosecution rests case in Schmitz’ Decatur trial
DECATUR — Prosecutors rested their case against state Rep. Sue Schmitz Tuesday in the sixth day of her trial on charges that she took a "no work" job from the two-year college system and was fraudulently paid.
U.S. District Judge David Proctor refused defense lawyers’ request to find Schmitz not guilty of fraud and mail fraud charges without continuing the trial. Defense lawyer Jake Watson said no reasonable jury could find Schmitz guilty because there was no evidence of criminal intent by Schmitz to defraud the college system.
The judge said he thought Schmitz’s defense raised interesting questions, but those were questions for the jury to decide.
Schmitz, D-Toney, is accused of getting paid more than $177,000 from 2003 to 2006 by the two-year system’s Community Intensive Training for Youth program but doing little or no work.
Employees at the program testified Tuesday that Schmitz was rarely seen at her Madison County office and never used her computer.
They testified that they saw Schmitz anywhere from six to 15 times at the office during three and a half years.
Justin Hancock, information systems manager for the CITY program, has testified that the password for Schmitz’s computer was never removed from a sealed envelope on her desk. He told jurors he eventually learned the computer had been moved into an area where it could be used by students.
"They had already moved the computer into the classroom without asking me," Hancock said Monday. "They said, ’She’s not here. We need it in the classroom."’
Prosecutors say she used her political connections to get the job doing public relations for the CITY program and then rarely showed up for work.
The prosecution’s final witness was the most recent director of the program for troubled teens. Edward Lane testified that when he took over the program in 2006 he was unsure what Schmitz did in her job.
