LITTLE ROCK — A federal inmate who was being held in the same housing unit as Dr. Randeep Mann in August 2009 testified Wednesday that the Russellville physician offered him $50,000 to kill Dr. Trent Pierce, the Arkansas State Medical Board chairman severely injured in a bombing attack outside his West Memphis home.
Defense attorneys, however, tore into felon Steven Briscoe, suggesting his testimony was full of inconsistencies and that he agreed to cooperate with the government in a bid to get moved to a better prison, for legal assistance and for possible future benefits. He also has cooperated with prosecutors on three other cases in exchange for reductions in his sentence, a sign he is familiar with the system and willing to use it to "get out," the defense argued.
Mann is accused of plotting the Feb. 4, 2009 attack over ongoing problems with the medical board, which had revoked his license to prescribe controlled substances.
Briscoe, who is in prison on a felon in possession of a firearm conviction, said he met Mann in the Pulaski County Jail when he was booked there on Aug. 20, 2009.
After Mann learned Briscoe was from West Memphis and knew it well, he said he wanted him to "do a job for him," Briscoe testified. In a subsequent meeting in the jailhouse yard, Mann said he would pay Briscoe at least $50,000 if he "finished off" Pierce and made it look like a "drive-by" shooting, Briscoe said. Mann said he would provide the gun, Briscoe added.
"He said he really needed this done because Dan and them didn't do a good enough job the first time," Briscoe said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Whatley asked Briscoe several times if he knew who Dan was and he said he was never told.
Briscoe said Mann told him he was angry at the board because it had revoked his permit to prescribe medication and that was costing him a lot of money. Mann also said Pierce would garner sympathy if he appeared in court to testify in the bombing trial, Briscoe said.
Pierce is expected to testify today.
Briscoe said he declined several offers from Mann and told his attorney of the incident days after it occurred. He said he is not receiving any benefit for testifying.
"The only thing I'm getting is this off my chest," he said. "I don't want to have the knowledge this guy wanted to kill Dr. Pierce and I didn't say nothing."
But defense attorneys Blake Hendrix and Tim Dudley said that claim is questionable since Briscoe was moved to a lower-security prison in Memphis after agreeing to testify and because he seemed to ask for something in return in letters he sent to the U.S. Attorneys in the Mann case.
In one, he asked for assistance getting a year of jailtime he served in Crittenden County before he escaped that facility counted toward his current sentence. In another, he wrote he would cooperate if he could be assured the U.S. Attorney's office wouldn't forget about him "like a used Kleenex" once the trial was over.
"Twice you said to the government 'I can't cooperate unless you give me some help,'" Dudley said during his cross-examination.
Taking part in the Mann trial actually delayed Briscoe's release date and the move in prisons was for safety reasons, he said.
"You can't be a snitch and be around people that know," Briscoe said. "They'll kill you."
The defense attorneys said Briscoe provided varying amounts and sometimes conflicting information about Mann's purported offer during separate testimonies before two grand juries and then during the trial today.
Hendrix also pointed out Briscoe's extensive criminal history, which includes the felon in possession of a firearm conviciton as well as one for attempting a felony and one for failing to surrender for a prison sentence. The Crittenden County escape charge is pending.
Hendrix questioned Briscoe about his cooperation in past cases and asserted Briscoe was only doing so for himself.
"You're going to do anything you can, Mr. Briscoe, to minimize the time you spend in the penitentiary, isn't that right," Hendrix asked.
"No sir, that isn't correct," Briscoe replied.