PHILADELPHIA – Defense attorneys for Philadelphia's district attorney have offered a defense for bribery and other charges facing their client: They say the things he's accused of doing aren't crimes.
Prosecutors told federal jurors in their opening statement Tuesday that District Attorney Seth Williams was "constantly on the take." They allege the Democrat took tens of thousands of dollars in bribes from two businessmen in exchange for legal favors.
Defense attorney Thomas Burke said his client's relationship with the businessmen was "sloppy" optics but not criminal activity.
The businessmen bought him tickets to an all-inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic, paid for more than a dozen other flights and wrote Williams checks worth thousands of dollars.
Burke says no case was compromised as a result of Williams' association with people he described as friends.
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