Seven women and nine men will decide the fate of Shelton developer James Botti.
That is the composition of the jury for Botti’s upcoming federal corruption trial on charges he allegedly bribed public officials to get development projects in Shelton approved.
Botti was charged with conspiracy to defraud the citizens of Shelton, bribery of a public official and mail fraud.
He has already been convicted of conspiracy to structure cash deposits, and structuring, which means making cash deposits in chunks of just under $10,000 to avoid detection from the IRS.
Sentencing for the structuring conviction is pending the outcome of the second trial.
Among those chosen at jury selection Wednesday were a plumber, a night custodian for the City of Milford, a former ESL teacher, a Sikorsky employee, and a Stop & Shop customer service employee.
The 16 people chosen include 12 jurors and four alternates.
They will begin hearing testimony on March 8 at U.S. District Court in New Haven.
This trial will be significant because details about the alleged corruption in Shelton will likely be revealed through testimony from several big players in town.
In its indictment against Botti, U.S. attorneys have said Botti allegedly used money and other services to get “Public Official #1” to help him get approval from Shelton commissions for his land-use applications.
Several media outlets have identified Mayor Mark Lauretti as the alleged public official in question.
The indictment claims that Botti paid for renovations to that public official’s home in October 2002 and permitted the public official to take cash from his safe in 2006.
The indictment also claims that Botti gave gift certificates to and made payments for members of the Planning and Zoning commission in exchange for approval of his plans.
The Witness List
Few new strategies for the case were unveiled Wednesday, but attorneys for Botti and the government each released their potential witness lists.
The lists include Lauretti, who was named by both sides as a potential witness.
(See the defense witness list below. The government’s list has not been electronically filed yet. The article continues after the document.)
Others on the lists include State Rep. Jason Perillo, Shelton Planning and Zoning Administrator Rick Schultz, 2009 Democratic mayoral candidate Chris Jones, and developers in town.
Elliot Wilson, the Shelton building official who last month admitted to Judge Haight that he accepted favors from developers, is also on the list. Wilson has pleaded guilty to lying to a grand jury and will be sentenced in April.
The Others
The 16 chosen jurors — who were only identified by their numbers Wednesday — were picked from more than 100 potential jurors.
Throughout the day, Judge Charles S. Haight, who is presiding over the case, whittled the number down by asking a series of questions.
Several people were immediately excused due to economic reasons: One man said he had several job interviews lined up for March, after spending several months unemployed.
A handful of others were working commission jobs. They said any days off meant they would lose pay and potential clients.
One woman was even excused because she kept falling asleep during the proceedings.
As the selection got closer to the end, the questions got more specific to the case:
Do you know Mr. Botti or any of the potential witnesses?
Have you served on a Planning and Zoning or Inland Wetlands Commission before?
Do you live in the Valley?
(Read about the jury selection for Botti’s first trial here.)
Instructions
Judge Haight instructed the jurors not to search or read about the case, so that the only evidence they receive is from the court.
He also gave an instruction at the request of the defense and government attorneys, although Haight admitted he didn’t know what it meant.
“I don’t fully understand this question,” Haight said, saying he was essentially a “child of the 19th century.”
“Does anyone blog or Tweet about their daily experiences?” Haight asked. “You can’t do any of those things, whatever they are.”
