Defense lawyers rested their case today and closing arguments are expected Thursday in Bobby Ferguson's $12 million bid-rigging trial.
They did not call Ferguson to the stand.
Ferguson, a close friend of ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, stood up and told U.S. District Judge David Lawson he would not testify. Lawson excused the jury at 10:40 a.m. and was to deliver preliminary instructions later today.
The trial is closely watched because it offered a foreshadowing of sorts for the trial of Kilpatrick and others -- including, again, Ferguson -- in September on a major criminal enterprise indictment. In the current case, prosecutors tried to show the unusual level of access Ferguson had to the top levels of city government, which they allege he exploited to win millions in city contracts.
Ferguson chose to stand trial along with colleagues Michael Woodhouse and Calvin Hall, after rejecting an offer to plead guilty and spend 13 years in prison, sources told the Detroit News.
