Griego lawyer grills witness over sale of state property

General services secretary says he wasn’t sure it was his role to inquire about deal

During former state Sen. Phil Griego’s corruption trial on Tuesday, his lawyer grilled general services Secretary Ed Burckle about why he never directly asked the legislator for details about his financial involvement in the sale of state property to a downtown Santa Fe hotel owner.

Burckle testified that he had a “vague memory” of Griego telling him at a March 24, 2014, meeting that he was involved in the sale of state property on De Vargas Street near the state Capitol to the Inn of the Five Graces. But Burckle admitted that he never pressed Griego for specifics about his role in the sale — for which Griego was paid a $50,000 commission by the hotel owners.

The day of Burckle’s meeting with Griego was the same day that Griego, a Democrat from San Jose, signed a broker’s contract with the Seret family, which owns the Inn of the Five Graces.

Defense lawyer Tom Clark, in cross-examining Burckle, sounded incredulous. “With all due respect, sir, you’re a Cabinet secretary. You’re a retired Air Force colonel. You don’t seem like a man afraid to ask questions.”

At one point when Clark was asking why he never asked any questions about Griego’s involvement, Burckle said, “I had the opportunity, but I’m not sure that’s my role.”

Clark got Burckle — whose department was involved in the sale because it had to determine the property was not part of any land grant — to acknowledge that

he also didn’t ask Brett Woods, the deputy secretary of the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, about Griego’s role. Woods, whose department owned the property, was a major advocate for the sale.

The defense lawyer also got Burckle to admit he never asked questions about Griego at meetings of the Capitol Buildings Planning Commission in April and June 2014. Burckle co-chairs the commission, which had to review the sale before the property changed hands.

While this line of questioning didn’t make Burckle look good, it’s not clear how it will ultimately help Griego. Clark is trying to establish that Griego was not trying to conceal his role in the sale. So far, no witness has testified that Griego told them about his involvement while the Legislature was considering the sale in its 2014 session.

Also testifying Tuesday was state Rep. Jim Trujillo, D-Santa Fe, the lawmaker whom Griego enlisted to sponsor legislation necessary for the transaction to happen.

Trujillo said he didn’t know Griego was being paid by the buyers. Asked by Assistant Attorney General Zach Jones what he would have done if he had known about Griego’s arrangement, Trujillo said, “I wouldn’t have carried the resolution.” He said that information would have raised too many questions about the deal.

However, later in Tuesday’s proceedings, Trujillo seemed to change his answer. In direct contradiction to his earlier answer, he said the property sale was good for the state. “I still would have sponsored it and still would have voted for it.”

“I’m not a real estate agent,” he told Jones. “I don’t know if [Griego was] entitled to a commission or not.”

His answers seemed to anger Jones, who asked Trujillo to verify an earlier statement in which Trujillo described himself as a longtime friend of Griego. Jones brought up the fact that Trujillo shook hands with Griego during a break in Tuesday’s proceedings. “Are you being truthful?” Jones asked. Griego, 69, resigned from the Senate in 2015 on the heels of an ethics investigation over the Inn of the Five Graces deal. He’s facing eight criminal counts including bribery and fraud.

The prosecution is expected to rest its case Thursday, while the defense is expected to begin its case Monday.