PALATKA (Florida) DAILY NEWS

August 23, 2006

Both sides rest; Evans won't testify

By Wes Wolfe

JACKSONVILLE -The jury in the Evans Labor Camp trial could start deliberations this afternoon as the prosecution and defense start their closing arguments today in U.S. District Court.

Both sides rested their cases Tuesday with Ronald Evans Sr. and his wife Jequita choosing, on the advice of their attorneys, to not put on a defense.

Though Mrs. Evans was not expected to testify, Evans Sr.’s attorney, William Kent, kept the option open for his client Tuesday until Evans Sr. declined to take the stand. The Evanses face a multitude of charges, including facilitating a continuing criminal enterprise. They could face life in prison if convicted.

As late as Tuesday afternoon, it appeared Evans Sr. would testify in his own defense. After the jury was excused for the day, Kent told Judge Timothy Corrigan he wanted to hear what Assistant U.S. Attorney John Sciortino planned to ask his client. Sciortino explained he would address issues of alleged dishonesty in Evans Sr.’s operation of the camp. Subsequently, Kent said Evans Sr. wouldn’t take the stand.

“I’ve advised Mr. Evans Sr. to not testify and it’s his decision to not testify,” Kent said.

Before the prosecution rested, it focused on wrapping up testimony on the money flow in the East Palatka camp and environmental regulation violations.

U.S. Department of Labor Special Agent Robert Torelli testified that when he crunched the numbers on records found in the Evans’ home from sales at the pump house and pay reports, he noticed a clear trend. On the pay report, it would show numbers in the “advance” column like “90 + 3.” Torelli said $90 was advanced to the worker on pay day and the “3” represented three $10 crack rocks.

He said if you looked at that week’s credit for purchases from the pump house for Saturday - which was pay day - and subtracted alcohol and cigarette purchases, the remaining number would be the advanced cash plus the dollar amount of crack rocks received.

On cross-examination, Kent asked Torelli if he knew the Evanses were in any way involved in cash advances.

“You don’t know if Mr. or Mrs. Evans was making weekly cash advances, do you?” Kent asked.

Torelli responded he did not know, nor did he know what Ronald Evans Jr. told his father and stepmother about the camp. Evans Jr. pleaded to conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine under the condition he did not have to testify against his parents.

An inspection involving violations of environmental law led to the raid in June 2005 that resulted in the labor camp trial. During the trial, whether the camp’s septic tank overflowed into the area by way of a pipe was not disputed. The issue was whether the creek existed at the base of the camp, or if it was an artificial ditch and the creek formed to the west, as it appears on the official government map of the area.

William Kruczynski, a program specialist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, testified Cow Creek ran on the south end of the camp, flowing west into the St. Johns River. He said the creek actually formed to the east of the camp, contradicting maps of the area, and was channelized to improve the flow of the creek. Kruczynski also said the smell in the area when he visited made him believe it had been polluted.

“It had a definite raw sewage smell to it in October 2005,” he said.

Thaddieus Hart of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also confirmed the existence of the creek behind the camp, saying it met the federal definition for a “water of the United States.” Whether the area at the base of the camp is a ditch or a creek is key to guilt or innocence on the charge of discharging pollutants into the creek.

Court was set to resume today at 8:45 a.m., when the prosecution and defense were to work out specifics on instructions for the jury before deliberations. Closing arguments were to start at 10:30 a.m., with the prosecution leading off, then the defense’s closing arguments and the prosecution’s rebuttal. Thereafter, the jury will begin its deliberations.