The former mayor of Bell, California, was too stupid and uneducated to know his $100,000 salary for the part-time city job was illegal, his lawyer argued today.

Oscar Hernandez is illiterate, has no high school degree and didn't even finish elementary school, defense attorney Stanley Friedmand told jurors.

Hernandez and five former members of the Bell City Council are on trial, accused of stealing $1.3million in exorbitant pay from the working-class city of 35,000.

All six elected officials drew salaries of up to $100,000 for serving on boards that seldom met and accomplished little.

Defense lawyers painted the officials as ignorant pawns of city manager Robert Rizzo and city attorney Edward Lee, who both advised them that massive pay raises were legal.

The attorneys for the former officials also blamed the city's financial advisory firm, which never advised the town to pare back the salaries, they say.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...l#ixzz2LexSDePR
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Good, one, too dumb to be stealing, dang.

I like this defense. It would give all elected officials in CA a legit excuse for their actions if this works.

Excerpt:

"The attorneys for the former officials also blamed the city's financial advisory firm, which never advised the town to pare back the salaries"

Sounds like the entire bunch fell off a turnip truck.

I think Rizzo sized up the risks, and assumed the city council would do as he recommended--and they did. They voted themselves raises.

All got caught. Rizzo is an obese slob, a crook, but a clever one.