Live coverage of the eighth day of testimony in the federal corruption trial of Trenton Mayor Tony Mack.
TRENTON - Charles Hall III, a lifelong friend of Trenton Mayor Tony Mack's, will continue his testimony in the federal corruption trial of the mayor and his brother Ralphiel Mack.
Hall pleaded guilty in the case and an unrelated narcotics case and has agreed to cooperate with the government in the case. Hall also wore a wire and recorded conversations with Mack and co-conspirator Joseph "JoJo" Giorgianni.
On Friday, Hall testified that Mack knew all along about the bribery plot that was associated with a plan to redevelop a city-owned property downtown into an automated parking garage.
Hall said that because the deal was coordinated through Giorgianni, it was understood that Mack would be receiving cash payments for his official action to facilitate the project.
The project and the purported developers were in fact working for the FBI as part of the sting operation.
We will be posting live updates throughout the day:
11:53 a.m.: Haney played two phone calls between Hall and a woman where he says he knows that the phone is tapped.
Shipp is excusing the jurors for the day because the court will close at noon. It is still unclear if they will return for more testimony tomorrow, depending on the weather.
11:00 a.m.: Hall said Giorgianni asked him to use a device to see if there was electronic surveillance in the clubhouse in Dec. 2011. Haney contends that Hall and Giorgianni conspired to use the bug they found int he clubhouse to their advantage.
"You were very concerned at this stage that you were inovled in a very big drug case and you wanted a way out and you and JoJo conspired that day of how to use this electronic surveillance to your advantage, didn't you?" Haney asked.
"No," Hall replied.
10:23 a.m.: Ralphiel Mack's attorney Robert Haney is going through Hall's plea agreement, showing the jury what Hall has agreed to and how the agreement may impact the sentence Hall receives.
10:05 a.m.: Judge Michael Shipp says the court will be hearing testimony as long as possible today, depending on the snowfall. He said he expects to try to continue with testimony until 1:30 p.m., but if the weather should get worse he may have to end the day earlier.
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