Defense loses key ruling as Wright corruption trial opens

The federal corruption trial for City Councilman Jack Kelly's former chief of staff and three political allies began yesterday with the four men losing a key legal battle.

U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno ruled that the 2006 felony conviction of co-defendant Hardeep Chawla could be introduced as evidence in the trial. Chawla had asked the judge to forbid that.

Kelly's chief of staff, Chris Wright; Kelly's one-time campaign treasurer, Andy Teitelman; and Chawla's brother, Ravinder, also warned that introducing the conviction might prejudice a jury against them all.

Wright is accused of trading help with city officials and agencies in return for a $1,000 check in 2005, a free apartment and parking spot in the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood and free legal services from the Chawla brothers and Teitelman.

Prosecutors claim that the $1,000 was a bribe for Wright to get Kelly to send a letter of reference to the judge sentencing Hardeep Chawla in 2006. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Bresnick called that letter a "Get-out-of-jail-free card from Councilman Kelly."

Chawla's attorney, Bill Winning, attacked that notion as "ridiculous," adding that Wright had only passed an e-mail along to Kelly about the letter.

"Judge, it's a preposterous theory," Winning added.

Robreno disagreed, saying that the letter Kelly wrote and the $1,000 were of value as evidence.

"Introducing the conviction is a disappointment for us," said Tom Bergstrom, Ravinder Chawla's attorney. "We'll just have to deal with it."

Kelly secretly recorded a June 2007 telephone call with Wright for federal investigators and a face-to-face meeting with Ravinder Chawla that month.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys have been debating the accuracy of the transcripts for those two tapes. Bergstrom said that they were "about 95 percent" close to agreeing on those transcripts.

Robreno will rule during the trial on a challenge from defense attorneys of testimony proposed by prosecutors by officials from the state and city ethics boards.

The Chawlas have given Kelly tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions.

Robreno started jury selection with 65 people yesterday afternoon and expects to finish this afternoon. Opening arguments are also expected this afternoon.

Two potential jurors said they would have a problem hearing a case in which a defendant was secretly recorded. One said he had a problem being fair to the Chawlas because they were born in Burma, raised abroad and are now naturalized American citizens. *