U.S. Prosecutors Move to Block Racism Defense in Moore’s Trial

Prosecutors asked a federal judge Thursday to prevent former Compton City Councilwoman Patricia Moore from raising the issues of racism or selective prosecution during her upcoming extortion trial.

Moore, indicted during a lengthy FBI probe of official corruption in Compton, contends that she is a victim of government entrapment aimed at black politicians across the country.

She is scheduled to go on trial later this month in Los Angeles federal court on 25 counts of extortion and income tax fraud.

Moore lost a bid last month to have her case thrown out on grounds of selective prosecution and racial bias. In their motion Thursday, government attorneys said that despite the court’s ruling, it appears that Moore “may impermissibly raise selective prosecution, racism or the ‘African-American experience’ as affirmative defenses at trial.”

Selective prosecution and racism involve constitutional issues of due process and equal protection--matters of law that must be resolved by a judge, not a jury, argued Assistant U.S. Attys. John M. Potter and Mary Carter Andrues.

Moreover, they said, Moore’s sole motive for wanting to air her claims of racism during the trial “is to unfairly inflame, prejudice and confuse the jury with baseless allegations that were rejected by this court.”

Moore’s chief defense attorney, Thomas Mesereau, denounced the government’s move as “outrageous” and said he plans to file a formal opposition within the next several days.

He said he has no intention of raising an affirmative defense of racism or selective prosecution. But he added, “We do intend to address evidence that race played a role in the investigation, which is contained in their own evidence.”

In their motion, the prosecutors asked that the defense be barred from using government videotapes showing undercover government agents and operatives in the presence of black political figures.

“The fact that they chose to tape African Americans is their decision, not ours,” Mesereau said. “Why should we not be allowed to use them?” The racial issue, he said, is entwined in Moore’s entrapment defense.

Moore is accused of taking $62,400 from two Compton businesses while serving on the City Council from 1989 through 1993. Most of the payments were allegedly extorted from John Macardican, a businessman-turned-FBI informant who was seeking city permits to construct a multimillion-dollar waste conversion plant in Compton.

Using Macardican as bait, Mesereau said, the FBI “went into a predominantly African American community and conned everybody that they were going to build a project that would create jobs for African Americans.

“It is our position that they tailored their scheme to entrap to their perceptions of what African Americans would be receptive to.”

In addition to Moore, the FBI investigation resulted in the indictment and conviction of former Rep. Walter R. Tucker III, who was accused of soliciting bribes while serving as Compton’s mayor.