SLOC trustees decided Thursday to "limit reimbursement
of legal fees" to $2,000 for potential witnesses in the
Olympic bribery case, according to Linda Fantin of the SALT
LAKE TRIBUNE, who adds that witnesses are "free to choose"
their own attorneys. But local attorney Larry Weiss said
that the $2,000 "barely covers one day on the witness
stand." The spending "cap" means that with 45 clients,
including 21 people who have hired attorneys and received
"some repayment" and 12 who "opted" to use attorneys from
the SLOC's DC-based firm Latham & Watkins, the SLOC is "on
the hook" for a maximum of $90,000. A proposal from Salt
Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson which would have provided "no
financial assistance" was defeated by a 9-5 vote of the
trustees (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 11/10). The SLOC has been
"rethinking" its decision to cut off legal fees for
potential witnesses because "several attorneys and one board
member questioned their motives." The SLOC said that it was
"trying to save money," but other attorneys "decried the
move as heavy-handed" and "interpreted it as an attempt to
manipulate witness testimony" (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 11/9).
ON HIS OWN: William Taylor, the attorney for former
Salt Lake bid exec Tom Welch, said that Welch has "given up"
trying to get the SLOC to pay for his legal defense of
criminal charges in the Olympic scandal. Taylor said that
Welch is "receiving financial help," but did not name the
source. Taylor said that Welch expects to be acquitted, and
"at that point" would "likely turn to the organizing
committee for both $1 million in consulting fees he lost in
the wake of the scandal as well as reimbursement for his
legal fees plus possible damages" (DESERET NEWS, 11/7).
