Smart people sometimes do illogical things.
That was one of the final arguments given in defense of Shelton Developer James Botti during the closing statements at his federal criminal trial Thursday.
Botti’s attorney, William Dow III, used the argument to try to plant a reasonable doubt into the minds of jurors as to why Botti made dozens of cash deposits that fell just below the $10,000-threshold that requires a report be filed with the Internal Revenue Service.
That’s what Botti, 46, is accused of doing.
Botti was charged with conspiracy to structure cash deposits, structuring and two counts of making false statements to the IRS.
Any cash deposit or cash payment of $10,000 or more triggers a report to the IRS. Money structuring is dividing cash transactions to avoid detection from the government.
Friday morning the jury will begin deliberations, and will ultimately decide if Botti is guilty or innocent.
Defense
It was the government’s burden to prove that Botti was guilty.
Dow urged the jurors to question whether the government had proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Botti had committed the crimes of which he is accused.
“When you take someone’s liberty away, you better be sure,” Dow said.
Dow brought up testimony from one of the IRS agents who interviewed Botti on July 14, 2006.
Agent Charles Cooney testified that Botti said he only had what cash was in his pockets, and that he kept no more than $5,000 in cash in any given year.
“He can’t remember the questions that were asked,” Dow said. “He can’t say with certainty what were the words.”
Dow also urged the jury to look at whether the government proved that Botti had the intent to structure cash deposits.
“They can’t prove intention,” Dow said during his 40-minute closing statements.
“They have to prove that when it happened, he had the specific intent,” to structure the money, Dow said.
Dow also argued that it’s unclear whose money was stored in a safe in the office. Key government witnesses had detailed a box that contained hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash that Botti showed off to them.
Calling Botti’s father “old school” and saying he was afraid to use banks, Dow said it’s possible the money belonged to the elder Botti, Peter.
Peter Botti has already pleaded guilty to one count of structuring bank deposits. He awaits sentencing.
“People who don’t trust banks do stupid things,” Dow said.
Intentional or Unlucky?
But U.S. attorneys, in their hour-long closing remarks, reminded the juror about evidence that shows Botti made several $9,500 cash deposits – often into different banks on the same day.
Some of the government witnesses testified that they explained to Botti about the requirement to file reports with the IRS for any cash transaction of more than $10,000.
“If James Botti doesn’t know about the $10,000 reporting requirement, he must be the unluckiest man in the world because he and his father kept making $9,500 deposits,” said assistant U.S. attorney Richard Schechter in his closing remarks.
Schechter and assistant U.S. attorney Rahul Kale pointed to the July 14, 2006 interview with IRS agents as more support for their claim that Botti knew what he was doing.
Botti brought Cooney to a kitchenette in his office to talk, rather than an empty conference room with glass windows to the rest of the office.
Prosecutors said this was because Peter Botti removed the cash from the office at the very moment the interview with IRS agents was taking place.
The kitchenette was out of sight from the rest of the office, according to prosecutors.
“He was already planning right from the get-go ‘I’m going to hide the cash,’” Kale said in his final arguments.
As to Dow’s question about who owned the cash, Kale urged jurors to “ask yourself who controlled the cash.”
Witnesses testified they saw the cash on James Botti’s bed and in his office. They also testified that James Botti was the one paying people with cash, not his father.
The government provided bank photographs of James Botti making cash deposits at the times matching the deposit tickets.
Only one photo also shows Peter Botti.
