ANCHORAGE - Former state Rep. Vic Kohring chose not to take the stand in his own defense Tuesday as testimony ended in his corruption trial.
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Defense attorney John Henry Brown presented just two witnesses: Kohring's nephew, whom prosecutors say improperly received a job due to his uncle's influence, and Robert Hall, a campaign supporter and business associate of Kohring's who testified that the lawmaker did not fire an aide at the request of Bill Allen, CEO of VECO Corp.
Kohring, a Wasilla Republican, is accused of demanding and accepting at least $2,600 from VECO executives in exchange for his support on legislation. VECO was a major Alaska oil field services company until it was sold in August.
Prosecutors also contend Kohring solicited the job for his nephew from VECO and that Kohring sought $17,000 to pay off a credit card debt. Kohring has denied the charges and claimed that any money that exchanged hands was a gift between friends.
Closing arguments in the case are scheduled today.
Aaron Kohring, 19, now a petroleum engineering student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, testified that he grew up without a father and that he was close to his uncle.
"He has always been there filling that role," he said.
Aaron Kohring said he was hired as a facility worker doing manual labor for VECO and started three days after he graduated from high school in 2006. He did not have a driver's license and to make it to work in time from his Palmer home, his mother had to drive him to Wasilla at 4:30 a.m., where he would catch the "Share-a-Ride" vehicle to Anchorage, then take a bus to VECO offices.
Working for $16 per hour, he said, he earned about $3,000 in three months. When the job ended, he said, his boss asked if he would consider going to college in Anchorage rather than Fairbanks so that he could continue working at VECO. He also had the chance to go back in summer 2007, he said.
"I guess I did a pretty decent job," Kohring said.
Kari MacDonald, called as a rebuttal witness by prosecutors, said VECO's internship program usually hired college juniors and seniors matched with mentors in engineering or other specialized fields. She said 100 candidates had applied for 25 to 35 positions in 2006 and Aaron Kohring likely would not have qualified without a recommendation from VECO CEO Bill Allen.
She acknowledged that the teenager had worked hard.
"We were very impressed with his work," she said.
The only other defense witness was Hall, who met Vic Kohring when both were students in Dimond High School in Anchorage in the 1970s. Hall became a volunteer supporter of Kohring when he first ran for office in 1994 and eventually a paid adviser. Hall, a practicing attorney and the owner of Gorilla Fireworks and other businesses, said he had both personal and professional connections to Kohring and had lobbied him on legislation.
Hall disputed the prosecution contention that Kohring fired an aide, Eric Musser, at Allen's request. Hall testified that Musser had left voluntarily.
Prosecutors say Kohring fired Musser at Allen's request because Musser had filed an Alaska Public Offices Commission complaint against another lawmaker Allen supported, former state Rep. Bev Masek.
