Read my lips: Nothing makes a prosecutor’s case like a wiretap

Electronic eavesdropping is a prosecutor's best friend. Defendants can't deny the stupid words out of their own mouths.

Ask the governor of Illinois.

Ask O.J. Simpson.

Ask four former Clark County commissioners still in jail.

Wiretaps often mean the case is signed, sealed and delivered. O.J. Simpson might not have been convicted of kidnapping if jurors hadn't heard him say: "Don't let nobody out of this room."

Evidence that nailed the former commissioners was their own words and how they said them. When Commissioner Erin Kenny pleaded with bagman Lance Malone for more under-the-table money from a topless club owner, she said: "I've gotta have money from him. ... I'm begging now. ... I'm on my knees begging."

And when Malone thought about stealing a $20,000 bribe, his father advised: "A lousy $20,000 in this day and age, it ain't worth it."

While one must say innocent until proven guilty, in reality, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, are dead meat, done in by their own words revealed in an FBI affidavit. As U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald read quotes from the criminal complaint Tuesday, he did it without the tone, without attitude and without profanities. He just said the words.

Those words were so devastating that, if the Democratic governor doesn't resign, he probably will be impeached.

He has been under investigation since he was elected in 2002, but he apparently crossed the line when he wanted to sell President-elect Barack Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder.

And if jurors hear the words come from the governor's mouth, with all the profanities included, convictions are just about guaranteed. (The downside for prosecutors is that jurors have come to expect that kind of evidence.)

The FBI in Illinois wiretapped Blagojevich's home phone and put a bug in his campaign office, and that's better than having a co-defendant flip and testify against you. A good defense attorney can chip away at a co-defendant's recollections, but wiretaps don't lie. A co-defendant can say you are venal, or you can prove it yourself in a wiretap. Context may be missing, but the words themselves have tremendous and horrendous impact.

The tape I'm eager to hear -- and since the federal investigation remains alive and well, it may become public someday -- is the wiretapped conversation between Las Vegas attorney Kris Pickering and her then-campaign consultant Gary Gray.

Pickering was elected to the Nevada Supreme Court. Before that occurred, it became public that she had been so uncomfortable about an alleged proposal from Gray, she allowed the FBI to put a bug in her office last July so the actual words said would be captured accurately.

No charges have been filed, but word on the street is that the investigation remains alive and well and hasn't gone dormant just because the election is over.

Knowing Gray, the husband of county Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani, it's hard to believe he would be overt in his comments. The song "Smooth Operator" is practically his theme song. But he knows how to imply.

Could he have implied that attorney Laura Fitzsimmons might hurt Pickering's election chances by arranging for $200,000 in campaign contributions to be poured into her opponent's war chest? Fitzsimmons, a successful eminent domain attorney, allegedly wanted Pickering to sign a letter stating she would not hear Fitzsimmons' cases. Is anything Gray or Fitzsimmons did an actual crime?

To show there was some precedent, Gray even brought Pickering a letter signed by retired Nevada Supreme Court Justice Bob Rose, disqualifying himself from Fitzsimmons' cases.

Naturally, mention Rose and wiretaps and that reminds me of the time District Attorney Rex Bell let Las Vegas police bug his office in 1993 because he thought Rose, then a District Court judge, might make an improper suggestion when he came to visit Bell to discuss drug charges filed against Rose's former law clerk. Bell had to think Rose was about to commit a crime, such as obstruction of justice, or he wouldn't have allowed his office to be bugged. Rose was never charged with anything, and the public never heard the exact words.

But it was pretty shocking that a DA would feel the need to bug a judge.

Makes you wonder who is wired these days.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0275. She also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/morrison/