Rep. Traficant rests case without taking stand; judge denies motion to dismiss charges

CLEVELAND (AP) _ Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. rested his case Friday without taking the stand to defend himself against corruption charges. <br><br>U.S. District Judge Lesley Wells denied his motion to

Friday, April 5th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

CLEVELAND (AP) _ Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. rested his case Friday without taking the stand to defend himself against corruption charges.

U.S. District Judge Lesley Wells denied his motion to dismiss the charges on the grounds that she violated his constitutional rights several times during the trial.

``You have failed to allow me to defend myself,'' said Traficant, who is representing himself even though he is not a lawyer.

Traficant, 60, is accused of taking kickbacks from staff members, accepting gifts and free labor from businessmen for his political help and filing false tax returns.

It was not immediately clear whether closing arguments would start Friday or Monday.

He faces up to 63 years in prison if convicted of all 10 counts, but sentencing guidelines would probably mean a much shorter sentence.

Traficant had said he would testify in his own defense only if Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Morford took the stand to testify about allegations Traficant wanted to make about misconduct by prosecutors.

On Thursday, Traficant had a small victory in court when Wells allowed him to enter into evidence an FBI report stating the congressman's fingerprints were not found on any evidence in the case. Traficant said the FBI report showed the agency failed despite ``an exhaustive attempt to corroborate words with physical evidence.''

But he also faced a setback when a witness he called supported prosecutors' allegation that a staff member worked at his farm during office hours.

Betty Manente, who has headed Traficant's Trumbull County district office for 17 years, said that Charles Buccella, another staff member, was frequently out of the office and told her he was working at Traficant's farm.

Also Thursday, Traficant flew into a rage and threw a box of documents off his table when Wells barred the testimony of a private investigator he had hired. It was the second time Traficant had been blocked in an attempt to call Fred Hudach to testify about alleged flaws in the FBI's investigation.

``I've never seen anything like this in my life. You are denying me a fair trial,'' Traficant told Wells.