Pretrial hearing held in bribery case against former Houston ISD COO Brian Busby
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The former Houston Independent School District chief operating officer accused in a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme wrote on a yellow legal pad Wednesday morning in federal court as his attorneys argued with prosecutors about what evidence should be admitted in his upcoming trial.
Jury selection for the case against former HISD COO Brian Busby and his alleged co-conspirator, Anthony Hutchinson, is set to begin on Monday.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Busby and Hutchinson have been charged with conspiracy, bribery, and witness tampering and allegedly "took steps to interfere with the investigation."
Hutchinson also faces a wire fraud charge.
Prosecutors, according to court documents, allege Busby helped award construction and grounds maintenance contracts to Hutchison, an HISD vendor at the time, in exchange for cash and hundreds of thousands of dollars in home remodeling.
RELATED: HISD's former COO faces new tax charges in relation to bribery scheme
The FBI's investigation dates back to 2018. Investigators believe Busby and Hutchison are part of an alleged kickback scheme that totaled about $7 million in HISD funds over a seven-year span.
A pretrial conference hearing Wednesday morning offered a glimpse into the arguments both prosecutors and the defense will make when the case goes to trial next week.
The defense was concerned about how a jury might perceive any allegations that Busby violated HISD policy, asking for it to be made clear that any alleged violation of district policy or state law is not the same as the federal charges he faces.
The judge ruled to allow discussion and witness testimony about the HISD procurement process, only if discussions on state law and district violations are limited.
Federal prosecutors have already entered a list of nearly 1,000 pieces of evidence they initially intended to present during the trial, though some of the items were debated on Wednesday.
"We could probably fill this building with the documents. It's just a matter of thinning it out and getting to the real nuts of the stuff," Busby's attorney, Dick DeGuerin, told 13 Investigates. "I think we're going to have a good, fair trial. I'm looking forward to a fair trial."
Court documents show the evidence, including surveillance photos from 2018, credit card statements, tax returns, HISD contracts, a handwritten payment ledger, and text message logs between Busby and Hutchinson.
RELATED: HISD superintendent on COO's arrest for $6M kickback scheme: 'Never seen such a failure'
Prosecutors indicated at least two of the five individuals who already pleaded guilty for their involvement in the scheme will testify on behalf of the government, including a former HISD board of education president.
Meanwhile, one of Hutchinson's attorneys, Letitia Quinones, told the judge, "We want to show the jury that they got it all wrong and we want to show them the lengths they went through to get it all wrong."
13 Investigates spoke with Quinones after Wednesday's court proceedings.
"We're going to wait and let the evidence show exactly what we mean by that, and we think that once the jury is able to actually consider all the evidence we put before them, they'll be able to make that determination themselves," she said.
Rusty Hardin is also representing Hutchinson.
"Even the best-intentioned prosecutors or government agents make mistakes, and they're just wrong, but we'll let the jury find out," Hardin told us Wednesday afternoon.
Busby's home was raided by the FBI in 2020 in connection with the allegations.
Before his employment at HISD ended later that year, Busby oversaw an annual operating budget of more than $260 million and led a workforce of more than 7,000 employees, including facilities, maintenance, and operations of school grounds.
Both prosecutors and the defense agreed that some of the documents they need for the trial have not been produced by HISD and its general counsel.
RELATED: New documents revealed in alleged $7 million kickback scheme at HISD
"We have not received complete records from HISD," one prosecutor said Wednesday.
HISD is expected to serve a subpoena to provide certain records that prosecutors and the defense said were incomplete or to appear in court and explain what records they have available. The judge hopes to have that issue settled by Friday.
Jury selection starts Monday with about 60 potential jurors, and the trial is expected to last for weeks.
