Testifying at bingo re-trial could weaken governor's office, former Gov. Bob Riley says

HUNTSVILLE, Al.
Protecting the dignity of the governor's office is the chief reason former Gov. Bob Riley said he does not want to appear as a witness in the re-trial of the gambling corruption case.

Former Gov. Bob Riley

U.S. Magistrate Wallace Capel on Monday rejected a request from Riley's lawyers as well as the state attorney general's office to block subpoenas from VictoryLand casino owner Milton McGregor, one of the defendants.
Speaking late this afternoon at former legislator Tom Butler's announcement of seeking the District 2 seat on the Madison County Commission, Riley described the subpoena from the defense as a "distraction" from the Jan. 30 re-trial.

"This has never been about me testifying," Riley said. "It's about whether or not you can call the governor when the governor has no knowledge of anything and put him on trial. It's something I won't have to worry about but the next administration will."

Calling the governor when the defense does not have evidence of knowledge the state's chief executive may have in a case is dangerous, Riley said. Riley drew the analogy of setting a precedent of calling the governor in most any case.

"If you ever get it down to the point that there's an automobile accident out here on the highway and you can get the governor to testify about whether enough money was spent on that highway, it's never ending. That's the principle that we've said all along. We've told the judge every time, if they have anything that implicates that I know anything about what they are doing, we're there.

"The last time, the judge heard the same evidence and said they don't have any idea what you guys are even talking about. Don't go."

Riley said protecting the office of governor should not be overlooked.

"If it comes down to that, we're going to protect the principle that you can't just call the governor to take the attention away from what's going on," Riley said. "The (U.S.) president is like that. You can't call the president on every case if there's anyone else that knows (what the president knows).

"The defense point of view, this is another distraction. Any judge that thinks I know anything, we've said from the beginning, we'll be glad to testify. But you have to be careful about setting a precedent that the next governor and the next governor and the next governor is going to have to live under. The rules are set that way for a reason. I don't want to leave the governorship any weaker than it was when I took it."