{"id":47427,"date":"2017-03-27T16:00:01","date_gmt":"2017-03-27T23:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=47427"},"modified":"2017-03-27T13:38:38","modified_gmt":"2017-03-27T20:38:38","slug":"phil-mickelson-take-fifth-called-testify-billy-walters-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/phil-mickelson-take-fifth-called-testify-billy-walters-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"Phil Mickelson Would \u201cTake the Fifth\u201d if Called to Testify in Billy Walters Trial"},"content":{"rendered":"

Golfer Phil Mickelson<\/a> would \u201ctake the fifth\u201d if called to testify in the ongoing trial of his friend Billy Walters and will therefore not be called as a witness for the defense, according to Walters\u2019 lawyer.<\/p>\n

\"Phil
Phil Mickelson is not accused of any crime, despite making money from trades on Dean Foods having received tips from Billy Walters. The golfer agreed to return his profit from the stock. (Image: Business Insider)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The possibility of the five-time major winner making an appearance in court has been the cause of a lot of breathless speculation since news of the case first surfaced three years ago. Just before the case began last week, the judge was forced to dismiss a juror for exhibiting a \u201clook of rapture\u201d when she heard Mickelson might take the stand.<\/p>\n

Walters, a legendary Las Vegas<\/a> sports bettor and owner of Walters Golf, stands accused of making $43 million from illegal stock market trades through insider tips, allegedly provided by Tom Davis, the former chairman of Dean Foods Co. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mickelson, a golfing buddy of Walters, has also made money investing in Dean Foods, some $931,000, thanks to information he received from Walters, according to US securities regulators. There is, however, no suggestion that Mickelson committed a crime or that he knew of the source of the information.<\/p>\n

The golfer has agreed to return the money obtained from the trades in question.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mickelson Ruled Out<\/b><\/h2>\n

Until now, neither defense or prosecution had declared publicly whether they would call Mickelson to testify, although he had been listed as a possible witness for the defense. That was ruled out during a conference between lawyers and the judge on Friday, by Walters\u2019 attorney Barry Berke.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cHe is on our witness list, but we understand from his counsel he would invoke his Fifth Amendment if called,\u201d said Berke, according to a transcript of the conference. \u201cSo he will not be called as a witness, although his name will be mentioned.”<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Mickelson\u2019s lawyer Gregory Craig declared his client to be \u201cinnocent of any wrongdoing,\u201d at the time the accusations surfaced. \u201cPhil was an innocent bystander to alleged wrongdoing by others that he was unaware of,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Last week, when asked directly by the Associated Press about whether he expected to testify, Mickelson himself said \u201cI\u2019m not part of that \u2026 I\u2019m out. I won\u2019t be called. \u201d<\/p>\n

Gambling, Hookers and Bat Phones<\/b><\/h2>\n

During the first week of the trial last week, the court heard the testimony of the prosecution\u2019s star witness, Davis, who asserted that he acted as a \u201cvirtual conduit\u201d of insider tips for Walters, provided via a pre-paid cellphone set up which the pair referred to as their \u201cbat phones.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis said that Walters\u2019 demands for insider tips became more insistent after Walters loaned him almost $1 million, a sum he blew on gambling and prostitutes, by his own admission.<\/p>\n

Walters contends that Davis is lying. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Golfer Phil Mickelson would \u201ctake the fifth\u201d if called to testify in the ongoing trial of his friend Billy Walters and will therefore not be called as a witness for the defense, according to Walters\u2019 lawyer. The possibility of the five-time major winner making an appearance in court has been the cause of a lot […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":47428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,21,10,60,16],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPhil Mickelson Would \u201cTake the Fifth\u201d if Called to Testify in Billy Walters Trial<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Phil Mickelson will not be asked to take the stand in the trial of his friend Billy Walters, according to the defense team.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/phil-mickelson-take-fifth-called-testify-billy-walters-trial\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" 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