Grand jury transcripts to be released in Palm Springs corruption trial, defense calls case ‘weak’

Grand jury transcripts will soon be released in the 'Scandal at City Hall' trial that is now 5 years in the making.

A judge Friday granted the unsealing of the transcripts in the corruption case against former Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet and developers John Wessman and Richard Meaney.

Prosecutors said the grand jury transcript has three volumes and hundreds of pages. The defense teams argued that releasing them to the public could lead to prejudice in potential jurors, but prosecutors said there is no compelling reason to keep them sealed.

Pougnet, Meaney and Wessman face bribery and corruption charges after the FBI raided Palm Springs city hall in 2015.

The district attorney said Pougnet accepted up to $375,000 to push Palm Springs development projects through city council.

Emily Hank, a prosecutor on the case, said there is nothing prejudicial in the documents.

But since September, the defense teams have been pushing the judge to keep them sealed, citing concerns of swaying future jurors.

"The district attorney decided to have a secretive grand jury, so that prevents the defense from asking cross-examination questions of the witness as they are called or calling our own witnesses," said David Greenberg, a defense attorney for Wessman. "The grand jury transcript is going to be a completely one-sided detailed event of the story, so we don't think that it's fair that go out to the public and taint our possible jury pool that's going to be coming in future."

Before leaving the courthouse Friday, defense attorney Elliot said what the public will see in the transcripts will sway the trial in favor of the defense.

When you see these documents, you'll see what a weak case this is," Elliot said. "It's a very weak case and it shouldn't have been brought, and when the time comes to try it, if it doesn't get thrown out on April 10th which it should, everyone will learn what a weak case it is."

Before the judge ruled to unseal the transcripts, Peters pushed the judge to close the trial to the public, a significant step which was denied.

The transcripts will be released on March 4th. Court is expected to continue on April 10th, when the judge will consider a motion to dismiss the case.

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