Sen. Wright says he never considered house his “domicile”

Things got testy Friday afternoon when state Sen. Roderick D. Wright (D-Inglewood) was being cross-examined during his perjury and voter fraud trial.

In his second day on the witness stand, Wright told jurors he “never considered” his Baldwin Hills house “a domicile.”

The definition of “domicile,” a fixed place of residence in which someone expects to live more or less permanently and intends to return after an absence, is a key point in the trial.

Wright was indicted on eight felony counts of perjury and voter fraud in September 2010 and pleaded not guilty. His trial before a nine-woman, three-man jury began this month in downtown Los Angeles.

Prosecutors allege that Wright schemed to make it appear that he lived in an Inglewood property he owns in order to run for his state Senate seat but really was “domiciled” in Baldwin Hills, outside the Senate district he sought and now represents. State law requires candidates for the Legislature to live in the districts they seek to represent.

On Friday defense attorney Winston Kevin McKesson spent most of the morning showing photos of and asking about Wright’s three offices--two provided by the state and one in the Baldwin Hills house that Wright said he uses to conduct his private real estate investment business and plan political fundraisers and do other things not related to his role as a state officeholder.

Wright testified that he never claimed a homeowners exemption, registered to vote or applied for a driver’s license using the Baldwin Hills address.

When asked by McKesson if he had believed he was complying with the law, Wright answered “yes.” Had he ever intended to deceive the voters of Inglewood in seeking the Senate seat? “No,” Wright replied.

But on cross-examination by Deputy Dist. Atty. Bjorn Dodd, Wright seemed to grow exasperated. Dodd questioned him closely on what laws and other things he had based his conclusion that he had established the Inglewood house as his “domicile” and was entitled to run and vote from there.

“I can only tell you what my understanding was,” Wright responded when Dodd grilled him about a court case the lawmaker had brought up in earlier testimony.

Shortly before 4 p.m., Judge Kathleen Kennedy called a halt to the proceedings in the stuffy courtroom.

“It’s too hot to continue. People’s tempers are flaring,” Kennedy said wryly.

With the court closed Monday in observance of the Martin Luther King holiday, testimony will resume Tuesday.

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jean.merl@latimes.com

Twitter: @jeanmerl