Former state Rep. Mary Waters says she was angry when she found her boyfriend and co-defendant in a federal bribery case, Sam Riddle, in bed with another woman.
“When I walked into that room and I saw that woman, I had all kinds of angry thoughts,” Waters testified Tuesday at Riddle’s domestic assault trial.
Jurors were to hear closing arguments and begin deliberation today in Wayne County Circuit Court on charges that Riddle, 63, pulled a shotgun on Waters in the incident just before Christmas.
But Waters said she never wanted Riddle prosecuted. She said he was drunk and depressed. She wanted to get him help.
And the other woman, 30-year-old Takesha Washington, testified she never even saw a gun.
The single mother of three testified she met Riddle online through Facebook and was working with him that day on a video presentation to get help cleaning up her Detroit neighborhood. She said there was nothing sexual about them being found asleep in bed together.
She also said she hid her face and said nothing while Riddle and Waters argued.
After Waters left to call the police, Washington said Riddle made her some soup. Police knocked at the door and arrested Riddle outside.
“I sat there and ate my soup and crackers,” Washington testified.
Waters and Riddle are co-defendants in an upcoming federal corruption trial involving alleged bribes paid to a Southfield city councilman to influence a pawn shop’s rezoning efforts.
“Sam was having a pity party,” Waters said. “He was ashamed of the federal thing that he had gotten me involved. He said the answer was that he should kill himself.”
Riddle also will be retried in federal court on bribery charges related to allegations he worked with his former boss, ex-Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers, to shake down businesses with matters before the City Council and the General Retirement System. Conyers has pleaded guilty to related charges, but is appealing her plea and sentence. Riddle’s first trial ended with a hung jury.
“I was mad because I wanted Sam to pick himself up and start dealing with what was in front of both of us,” Waters testified. “He had been so angry with himself.”
Riddle’s lawyer Mark Mandell attacked the accuracy of Waters’ statements. Police reports say she caught the couple in a sex act. She testified that she never said that.
Waters had said he pointed the gun at her. She has said he pointed it straight forward. Wednesday, she said he pointed it upward.
A recording of her 911 call was played in Judge Gregory Bill’s courtroom. Although Waters has insisted she was never afraid of Riddle, she told the dispatcher, “He pulled a gun on me.”
Source:The Detroit News/ Doug Guthrie
