By Jacqueline Lee
Olympic bid leaders Tom Welch and Dave Johnson were acquitted Friday, Dec. 5 without the defense ever needing to call a witness.
U.S. District Judge David Sam ruled in favor of the defense''s motion to dismiss the trial on the grounds that the prosecution had not presented sufficient evidence to convict Welch or Johnson of any of the 15 felony charges against them.
'There is something very wrong when, on the one side of the scales of justice sits Salt Lake City and the entire state of Utah, welcome recipients of the efforts of Mr. Welch and Mr. Johnson and their co-workers, without any sanction from the IOC, while on the other side sits defendants Welch and defendant Johnson, charged by the United States with 15 felony counts for their efforts in winning the bid,' Sam told the court on Friday morning.
'This, in light of the evidence presented, offends my sense of justice,' he said.
Sam was able to acquit Welch and Johnson under a Rule 29 motion. Rule 29 allows a judge to acquit defendants if the judge believes there is not enough government provided proof for to convict the defendants.
Welch and Johnson have spent the past five weeks at the federal courthouse standing trial for the tactics used to win the Olympics for Salt Lake City.
They were accused of using $1 million worth of gifts and payments to International Olympic Committee members to win the vote for the Games.
Welch and Johnson never denied the payments and gifts made to IOC members, but said the bid committee and trustees were aware of the payments and their behavior was an appropriate and necessary way to win the Games.
This is the second and final time Sam will have to rule on the trial.
Sam initially tossed the case when it first came to trial before the Olympics came to Salt Lake.
Double jeopardy laws prevent Welch and Johnson from being tried again.
Prosecutor Richard Wiedis stopped the case short after calling only 14 of the list of 43 possible witnesses.
Government witnesses had testified in favor of the defense and the judge had frequently stopped the government''s line of questioning.
Witnesses testified that record of the payments made by Welch and Johnson had been kept in the bid committee''s general ledger and no bribery or conspiracy had transpired.
'You don''t engage in a scheme to defraud by leaving a paper trail,' said defense attorney Bill Taylor in his closing arguments on Thursday.
The judge agreed.
'I have never seen a criminal case brought to trial that was so devoid of mens rea or criminal intent or evil purpose,' Sam said.
Despite Sam''s opposition throughout the trial, Wiedis told him that to dismiss the trial would be to deprive the jury of the right to make a statement that Olympic corruption needs to be stopped.
The jury wouldn''t have convicted the bid leaders anyway, said BYU law student Autumn Beardsley.
'The government failed to meet the burden of proof,' Beardsley said. 'In this case, a summary judgment was proper.'
Sam said the government''s endeavor to protect the morals of Utah and the Olympics was commendable, but in light of the evidence presented, he called it 'misplaced.'