Ex-DA: Alleged wife-hiring scheme 'administrative failure,' not crime

Jurors will begin deliberating Thursday in the fraud trial of a former district attorney accused of providing a no-show job for a colleague's wife.

Wallace Bradsher, who resigned a year ago as district attorney of Person and Caswell counties, faces charges of felony conspiracy, obtaining property by false pretense, aiding and abetting obstruction of justice and failure to discharge his duties.

Craig Blitzer, who resigned last year as Rockingham County district attorney, testified last week, that he and Bradsher agreed in early 2015 to hire each other's wives to get around state ethics rules against prosecutors hiring spouses. He said Bradsher encouraged Cindy Blitzer to focus on her classes as she tried to complete her nursing degree.

Cindy Blitzer said she wanted to do work for Bradsher and kept asking for more to do after a child homicide case was taken away from her in early 2016, but her requests were ignored. She said Bradsher was aware that she wasn't doing any work for months but was still getting paid.

Bradsher said she may have gotten paid improperly, but he disputed the notion that he willingly allowed that to happen. He contends that he was so involved in trying cases and ramp up programs to make his office more efficient that the oversight of her activities fell through the cracks.

"This was an administrative failure, but I contend to you not an intentional criminal act, to commit a felony, to defraud the state out of anything," he told the jury in his closing argument Wednesday.

He also suggested investigators ignored evidence and prosecutors tailored their case to fit the argument that he was to blame for the situation. He wondered aloud why the Blitzers haven't been punished for having some of Craig Blitzers staffers use state computers during their work hours to help Cindy Blitzer with some of her online classes.

"I understand the arrangement is easy for the state to wave the flag and say, 'Get riled up, nepotism, crazy idea, salaries not fair, he didn't do a good job,'" he said. "Look at the facts objectively and say, 'Did the state present us the whole story, or did they just give us slivers?'"

Bradsher, who is representing himself, chose to present no evidence in his defense.

Wake County Assistant District Attorney Patrick Latour urged jurors not to fall for Bradsher's "hey look over here, not over there defense."

"This isn't a referendum on whether he worked hard," Latour told jurors. "What this is about is the fact that he did not require an employee to do work, and he allowed her to get paid for that work, and not only did he allow it, he was complicit in it."

While acknowledging the Blitzers aren't the most credible witnesses, Latour noted that they have at least owned up to their mistakes.

Craig Blitzer pleaded guilty last year to failure to discharge the duties of his office and is awaiting sentencing. As part of his plea deal, he paid back the $48,000 investigators determined his wife was improperly paid.

"The defendant chose his partners in crime when he sat down with those people and made this deal," Latour said. "Now, he's mad about the fact that he couldn't trust the other criminals that he worked with."

The prosecutor repeatedly called Bradsher the "puppet master" in the scheme, saying that he came up with the idea of the wives switching jobs, pushed another staffer into Blitzer's office after Pam Bradsher left for a better-paying job and encouraged the Blitzers to lie to investigators to cover up their actions.

"What it boils down to was hubris. He thought he was too big to fail," Latour said. "I can do what I want with impunity, and it's OK because I'm the DA."