Davidson’s defense concludes its case

On the witness stand Monday for his corruption trial, real estate consultant Donald Davidson appeared to contradict his previous testimony.

Davidson testified Monday in federal court that he scheduled an April 2002 lunch with then-Las Vegas City Councilman Michael McDonald to establish a relationship on behalf of Triple Five Nevada Development Corp.

Davidson said McDonald was tight with members of the Peccole Ranch development company, a competitor to Triple Five. Davidson said he hoped to improve McDonald’s opinion of Triple Five for future projects in the city.

Davidson testified that former Clark County Commissioner Lance Malone, who was a friend of McDonald’s, asked whether Triple Five could contribute $20,000 to McDonald’s re-election campaign. The large contribution would have been legal if the company divided the total into smaller donations from the company’s owners or sent them in as contributions from other companies they owned.

Douglas Rankin, McDonald’s community liaison who attended the lunch with Davidson, told jurors last week that he felt uncomfortable with the discussion at the meeting. He said Davidson initially did not want to talk to McDonald with Rankin present.

“He (Davidson) said he had 50,000 units to split up however he (McDonald) needed to chop it up,” Rankin said, recounting Davidson’s conversation with the councilman.

During a May 9, 2002, telephone conversation intercepted by the federal government, Davidson relayed to Malone that his comment to McDonald had been: “I have five dimes to spread around.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Schiess told jurors that Davidson was attempting to bribe McDonald.

Davidson said that is not true. He suggested Monday that he was simply discussing the amount of campaign contributions McDonald sought.

“I didn’t want to discuss money in front of him (Rankin) because of the amount Mr. McDonald was talking about,” Davidson said. “All I was trying to do was develop a comfortable relationship with Mr. McDonald.”

Schiess questioned Davidson about whether the “five dimes” were truly intended to be legitimate campaign contributions.

“They certainly could have been,” Davidson responded. “Why not?”

Davidson said last week that the $50,000 came from consultant fees a developer paid him to push through a zoning change. He explained that he told McDonald he would use the money to pay other consultants or attorneys that assisted him with the zoning change. Davidson said he wanted McDonald’s recommendation on land use consultants familiar with city government.

Davidson’s accounts of various meetings and discussions he had with then-Clark County Commissioner Erin Kenny or Malone have changed over the course of months and even days.

For example, Davidson testified Monday that he knew nothing about an off-shore account that other witnesses testified was established in late 2001 to allow Kenny to hide her illegal payoffs.

Davidson said Kenny invited him to meet her and her accountant in August 2001 to discuss methods of holding money. He testified that he thought she called upon him because Triple Five was involved in the banking business.

“She needed to sell her father’s house and needed to buy two condos not in her name,” Davidson said. “We talked about an LLC (limited liability company). I believe we talked about a trust.”

Last week, Davidson testified that either Kenny or accountant David Geiger brought up the idea of establishing an off-shore account.

Davidson, 73, said Monday that at his age it is difficult to recall exactly what was said in meetings that occurred six years ago.

The government alleges Davidson paid Kenny $200,000 for successfully pushing through a zoning change allowing a heavily opposed CVS Pharmacy to be built at the corner of Buffalo Drive and Desert Inn Road. A 2005 indictment says Davidson’s son, Lawrence Davidson, helped create an off-shore account to stow away the illegal payoff.

Donald Davidson’s wife, Renee Davidson, took the stand Monday and told jurors her husband would never ask his son to do anything illegal.

“Absolutely not. No. Never,” said Davidson’s wife of 49 years. “He would never do that.”

Lawrence Davidson, 40, disappeared after he was charged in the same indictment as his father. Renee Davidson said her son used to come by her home once a week. She has not seen him since Labor Day, she said.

Prosecutors have suggested that Donald Davidson cashed cashier’s checks from developers to pay off Kenny after certain votes, but Renee Davidson said her husband simply preferred cash to credit cards or travelers checks. She said he typically gives her $3,000 cash each month to cover household expenses.

“Other than a few speeding tickets, he’s very law-abiding,” she said.

Donald Davidson’s attorney, Dominic Gentile, wrapped up his case on Monday. He indicated that during closing arguments, expected to begin today, he intends to attack the credibility of Kenny, the government’s star witness who signed a plea agreement in 2003.

Kenny, who said she suffers from memory loss, told jurors that Davidson paid her $200,000 for the CVS vote. She also offered testimony that supported a second indictment issued against Davidson in 2006. That indictment charges Davidson with paying Kenny $3,000 a month for nearly three years after she voted in favor of a controversial Spring Valley casino in January 2000.

Gentile suggested that Kenny was untruthful on the stand.

In particular, he questioned Kenny’s statement that developer Jim Rhodes pays her $16,800 a month to serve as his government services consultant.

“We want to discredit her claim that she’s a bona fide government services consultant,” Gentile said. “Particularly given her felony conviction and background.”