Former state treasurer Tim Cahill’s attorneys sat down with Greater Boston host Emily Rooney on Wednesday night to discuss the verdict in Cahill’s case, which was declared a mistrial with a deadlocked jury.
“The case is over as far as we’re concerned. Whether it’s cast as not guilty, whether it’s cast as unable to reach a verdict. The answer is the same,” said Jeffrey Denner, one of Cahill’s lawyers.
Cahill was on trial for allegedly using $1.8 million in lottery advertising to help his independent 2010 gubernatorial campaign. Attorney General Martha Coakley said she had not yet made the decision to retry Cahill.
A Working Court System Cahill’s lawyers maintained his innocence, even without the verdict of a formal acquittal. Denner said he didn’t “fault the attorney general’s choice to prosecute the case” but that he believed the court system had “worked the way it was supposed to.” “He is in exactly the same position he was two years ago,” said one of Cahill’s lawyers, Brad Bailey. “He’s an innocent man, and that’s what our system says.” A Deadlocked Jury The jury, which took six and a half days to deliberate, was deadlocked in its decision – the breakdown of their stances unclear. “There were a lot more people look to acquit than there were looking to convict,” Denner said. Bailey said that this sort of case is better suited for a civil setting in a civil context in front of a state ethics commission, rather than a jury. “With these very difficult types of issues that the jury was asked to consider – it [takes] very, very painstaking attention to try to resolve,” said Bailey. Cahill’s Reaction Leaving the courthouse on Wednesday, Cahill told reporters that he was elated with the verdict. “We knew going in that it was going to be one of three things; two of them were good, one was bad,” Cahill said. “So we took one of the two good ones and I’m really just – I’m relieved and I’m thrilled.” Cahill’s former chief of staff, Scott Campbell, was found not guilty of corruption charges on Tuesday. When asked in a news conference about Attorney General Martha Coakley and the potential of a re-trial, Cahill bristled. “She can do whatever she wants to do,” Cahill said. “I know [I have] people standing beside me – no fears.”