ROBBINS TAKES HEAT IN TENANT'S TRIAL.Byline: Jeannette DeSantis Daily News Staff Writer Ted Titmas is accused of stealing expensive furniture and appliances from Alan Robbins' home, but it was the former state senator's own credibility that became the focus of Titmas' trial. Robbins, appearing tan and fit in a light-colored suit, spent Monday and Tuesday on the witness stand in Van Nuys Superior Court testifying in the grand theft case. Titmas rented Robbins' 5,000-square-foot Encino home while the former senator served two years in federal prison for racketeering Traditionally, obtaining or extorting money illegally or carrying on illegal business activities, usually by Organized Crime . A pattern of illegal activity carried out as part of an enterprise that is owned or controlled by those who are engaged in the illegal activity. , filing a false tax return and giving false information to a federally insured institution. Soon after, Titmas fell behind in the $5,000-a-month rent and was forced into bankruptcy. Titmas, who has pleaded not guilty, claimed most of Robbins' belongings were mistakenly auctioned off at a bankruptcy hearing. At times on the stand, Robbins must have felt more like the defendant than the victim in a grand theft case - especially when the former state legislator LEGISLATOR. One who makes laws. 2. In order to make good laws, it is necessary to understand those which are in force; the legislator ought therefore, to be thoroughly imbued with a knowledge of the laws of his country, their advantages and defects; to was asked about his own guilty pleas in a government corruption case. When defense attorney Bruce Cormicle asked Robbins if he had been convicted of tax evasion The process whereby a person, through commission of Fraud, unlawfully pays less tax than the law mandates. Tax evasion is a criminal offense under federal and state statutes. A person who is convicted is subject to a prison sentence, a fine, or both. , Robbins corrected him, stating that the charge was filing a false tax return. When asked if he had been convicted of bribery, Robbins bristled bris·tle n. 1. A stiff hair. 2. A stiff hairlike structure: the bristles of a wire brush. v. bris·tled, bris·tling, bris·tles v.intr. and said facilitating a bribe BRIBE, crim. law. The gift or promise, which is accepted, of some advantage, as the inducement for some illegal act or omission; or of some illegal emolument, as a consideration, for preferring one person to another, in the performance of a legal act. was mentioned in the racketeering charge but he in fact never had taken a bribe. Other exchanges were just as tense. Several times Robbins responded with comments like, ``I think I answered your question'' or ``The answer is what I answered a moment ago.'' Until finally Robbins blurted out, ``Can I make a request of your honor, if counsel not raise his voice so much it would be easier to answer his questions.'' Judge Michael Hoff called for the lunch break instead. ``His credibility is not going to make or break the case,'' prosecutor Peter Korn said of Robbins outside of court. ``I was surprised to see how long they kept him on the stand. ``He was a victim in this case,'' he said. Robbins represented the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. for nearly two decades in the state Legislature A state legislature may refer to a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. The following legislatures exist in the following political subdivisions: |
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