Defense attorneys continue closing arguments in Backpage trial

Attorneys for former Backpage.com executives made final arguments in their defense on Tuesday against charges that they conspired to use the website to profit from the facilitation of prostitution.

Co-founder Michael Lacey and other Backpage executives and employees are accused of crimes including conspiracy, money laundering, and violating of a statute called the Travel Act. That federal law prohibits crossing state lines — in person, through the mail or, in this case, virtually — as part of committing certain crimes. One of those crimes is prostitution.

Lacey’s longtime newspaper publishing partner and Backpage co-founder, James Larkin, died by suicide in July, days before the trial was initially scheduled to begin.

On Friday, after the United States finished its case, attorney Paul Cambria presented closing arguments in defense of Lacey, in which he laid the groundwork that attorneys for Lacey's codefendants would follow and reinforce on Tuesday.

Attorney Bruce Feder, representing former Backpage executive Scott Spear, said the government was trying to distract the jury from the real person in charge at the classified ad website: former executive turned government witness Carl Ferrer.

When Ferrer pleaded guilty to prostitution and money laundering charges in 2018, he agreed to cooperate with the federal government.

As the government's main witness, Ferrer told the jury that paid posts on Backpage "were prostitution ads," and claimed that Lacey, Larkin and their co-defendants were the ones calling the shots at the company.

But Feder said on Tuesday that Ferrer's testimony was akin to a ruse pulled by the Wizard of Oz, while the real perpetrator — Ferrer — was actually the man pulling the levers of control behind a curtain.

Feder painted Ferrer as the one in charge and said his client, Spear, was in an unfortunate situation.

"He was the person who wanted stricter and stricter standards" imposed over the content posted to the site, Feder said of Spear, who was an executive vice president for Backpage.

Feder detailed efforts taken by Spear to keep unlawful content off of Backpage. He showed the jury several emails in which Spear directed staff to "clean the site up" and chastised them for failing to properly moderate ads.

"Scott, in good faith, did the best that he could," Feder said.

Despite the prosecution portraying John Brunst as the CFO of Backpage, attorney Gary Lincenberg said Brunst was actually the CFO of a media holdings company that included the website and several newspapers across the country.

"His role did not involve any of the operations of Backpage," Lincenberg said.

Lincenberg said Brunst's duties included preparing financial statements and tax returns, as well as conducting audits and corporate transactions.

While the prosecution described Brunst as a "bag man" in a criminal enterprise, Lincenberg said he was merely a "bill collector" for a profitable company. Brunst was always honest with banking entities, and never lied to anyone about Backpage's business operations, Lincenberg said.

Lincenberg pointed to Brunst's and his co-defendants' continued cooperation with law enforcement during Backpage's existence as proof that they could not be conspiring to commit a crime.

Brunst never saw or knew of the ads in question in the case, and was not involved in content moderation, Lincenberg said. He also claimed that there was no evidence linking any of the wire transfers Brunst oversaw to any unlawful ads on Backpage.

Despite calling 21 witnesses, Lincenberg told the jury only one — Ferrer — implicated Brunst in any wrongdoing. And Ferrer, he said, had reason to point the finger of blame at his client.

"Ferrer's liberty depends on pleasing the prosecutors," Lincenberg said. "His goal is to avoid prison, and he is hoping the prosecutors will recommend leniency."

In a plea document, Ferrer acknowledged knowing that a majority of Backpage's revenue came from escort ads, conspiring to launder revenues from the ads, and conspiring to sanitize ads by removing photos and words that were indicative of prostitution and then publishing revised versions of the notices.

"You should consider the extent to which his testimony may have been influenced," Lincenberg told the jury, calling him a "bought witness."

Lincenberg further attacked Ferrer's credibility, saying he had a "selective memory" that seemed to only serve the purposes of the prosecution, and accused him of "playing dumb" under cross-examination.

David Eisenberg, representing former Backpage Operations Manager Andrew Padilla, said Padilla's job at Backpage was to moderate ads "in conformance with the standards and rules set by others."

Despite those standards and rules frequently changing, Eisenberg said, Padilla "applied the rules to the best of his abilities."

Eisenberg noted that the number of moderators employed by Backpage increased under his management.

He said Padilla was committed to his job and displayed emails to the jury showing him responding to requests at all hours of the day and night.

Eisenberg again displayed exhibits to the jury that showed conversations Padilla had with staff about stricter guidelines and adding words and phrases to a long list of language that was banned from the site.

Although Padilla was in charge of moderation, he was not involved in the creation of any material, Eisenberg said.

"Rule one for the moderators was to take out content, not add to it," Eisenberg said.

"His intent has never been to promote the business of prostitution," Eisenberg said of Padilla. "His intent was nothing other than to do his job."

Joy Bertrand, an attorney for former Backpage employee Joye Vaught, who was assistant operations manager for the site, will present her closing arguments Wednesday morning, followed by a potential rebuttal from the prosecution. The judge will then present final instructions to the jury before they begin deliberations.

Judge Diane Humetewa decided to dismiss a jury member at the beginning of Tuesday morning's proceedings after the jury member disclosed they had contracted COVID-19. Humetewa said the juror reported feeling "foggy" and she didn't think it would be fair to force them to continue while they were ill. Humetewa said an alternate would be used in the sick juror's place.

Humetewa, prosecutors and defense attorneys have repeatedly expressed their gratitude for the jury's patience during the often complex and lengthy trial, which has gone on for two months.

Jurors have been attentive and taken notes through the testimony of more than 20 witnesses and the presentation of countless exhibits, though several struggled to keep their eyes open during closing arguments Tuesday.

They still have their work cut out for them. Once the jurors are handed the case, they will be deliberating over more than 100 charges against five defendants.

Reporter Richard Ruelas contributed to this story.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Backpage defendants make final pleas to jury in closing arguments