Schurick Testifies In His Own Defense At Robocall Trial

BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- Taking the stand in his own defense, the man at the center of the Election Day robocall scandal says he didn't break any laws by authorizing the calls.

Derek Valcourt has more on what Paul Schurick is saying.

Schurick took the stand insisting he has nothing to hide and did nothing wrong.

He denies having any intention to suppress African-American voter turnout with the 2010 Election Night robocalls to 112,000 registered Democrats in Baltimore City and Prince George's County that suggested that there was no need to vote because the Democrats had already been victorious.

"We're OK. Relax. Everything is fine. The only thing left is to watch it on TV tonight," the robocall said.

Schurick told jurors the robocall was meant to be counter-intuitive, what he termed a wake-up call intended to inspire Republican-leaning African-Americans to rush out to vote for Bob Ehrlich. He said the idea came from campaign consultant Julius Henson saying: "He's the expert. I paid him $16,000 for good advice. He read me a proposed script. I approved it."

Schurick also denied telling Henson not to include the required identification line in the robocall saying who it came from. He said he assumed that was something Henson would do.

Closing arguments in the case are set to begin Monday. Deliberations follow soon after.

The defense also called nearly two dozen character witnesses to tell the jury Schurick is an honest man and of high integrity.