Hamilton has pleaded not guilty.
Hamilton’s defense lawyer Abbe Lowell elicited all these salacious details from Caraway on the witness stand Wednesday to highlight the stark differences between Hamilton’s experience with the former councilman – one phone call and one meeting where a $7,000 check changed hands – and the flamboyant activities Caraway undertook with the undercover FBI agents, and the enormous sum of money he took in the DCS case.
Lowell also noted that bribes are normally paid in cash, so they’re harder to trace. His client Hamilton gave Caraway a personal check, in his own name, and only after, according to Lowell, Caraway mentioned he needed help paying his ailing mother’s mounting medical bills. It was far from a bribe, Lowell argued, and was actually evidence of his client’s willingness to help a friend in need.