HAMILTON — Attorney Mark A. Conese testified on his own behalf Tuesday, repeatedly saying that no matter what a tape-recording of his voice says, he never intended to threaten a Board of Elections employee into surrendering his after-tax pay to the Butler County Democratic Party.

Conese

        “When you're a leader of a party, you ask people for money,” Mr. Conese said, adding during 90 minutes on the stand that he “asked,” “hoped” and “requested” that Brent Dixon, a part-time board employee, would make the donation during a March 1, 2000 meeting that Mr. Dixon secretly tape-recorded.

        Mr. Conese also said he wasn't demanding the money. Rather, he said, it was “a sales pitch, like for a fraternity or a church.”

        But Assistant Prosecutor Steve Tolbert confronted Mr. Conese with several of his taped statements, including: “I'd fire him in a minute,” if a board employee reneged on a promise to donate.

        Mr. Conese replied, “It may sound as a statement. I meant it as a question. I didn't mean it as a threat to Brent Dixon.”

        “I did not know I was on tape,” he said, “so I may not have put the proper punctuation or accent in my voice.”

        Mr. Conese, 44, is a former domestic relations court judge who faces up to 24 months behind bars plus $6,000 in fines if convicted of the two charges he faces: felony misconduct of an elections board member and misdemeanor soliciting or receiving improper compensation.

        A jury of eight women and four men is expected to begin deliberating today. Visiting Judge Jeffrey Froelich is overseeing the proceedings, which began Monday in the Old Courthouse.

        Hamilton Police Chief Neil Ferdelman and other character witnesses testified to Mr. Conese's reputation for honesty..

        Mr. Conese said Brent Dixon may have misunderstood his statements during the meeting. He noted that when Mr. Dixon says something about possibly losing his job if he failed to contribute, Mr. Conese said on the tape: “When did we say that?”

        “The question mark was real clear in my voice that time,” Mr. Conese said.

        After he finished testifying, a red-faced Mr. Conese gave a reassuring squeeze to the hand of one of his four daughters, who have been attending his trial along with his wife.

        Donald Dixon, Brent Dixon's father, was the first witness to testify for the defense. But his testimony disputed defense lawyer Michael Shanks' argument that the Dixon family orchestrated a “setup” of Mr. Conese and publicized it to legitimize the family's switch from Democrat to Republican in the March 2000 primary election.

        To the contrary, Donald Dixon said his son taped the meeting only at his insistence. The elder Dixon said he became suspicious about Mr. Conese asking to meet with his son to discuss “his job.”

        Donald Daiker, the other Democratic party official who participated in the meeting with Brent Dixon, resigned his position and agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge in exchange for his testimony against Mr. Conese.

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