By John Howell Sr.

The prosecution appeared to strike no telling blows as a federal criminal trial continued through three hours Friday afternoon.

Attorneys for Lee Garner and Ray Shoemaker soon finished their questioning of physician and former Tri-Lakes administrator Dr. Robert Corkern, asking about contracts for nursing services, lawsuits stemming from non-payment for those services and about Ray Shoemaker’s role in the hospital’s management.

Former hospital board of trustees chairman George Randolph and Panola County Chancery Clerk Jim Pitcock were then called as witnesses by the prosecution, followed by a Federal Bureau of Investigation forensic examiner of computers and, finally, a health care auditor for the U. S. Attorney.

Assistant U. S. Attorney Robert Mims questioned Pitcock briefly about his role as county treasurer. The questions appeared intended to establish the amount of federal funds the county received from 2005 through 2007. Defense attorneys did not cross-examine the chancery clerk.

In the courtroom, mostly clustered in three separate groups, were friends and family of Corkern, Garner and Shoemaker.

The prosecution appeared to have called Randolph to strengthen its claim that the $250,000 obtained from GE Capital for Tri-Lakes then transferred to Shoemaker as payment for the transfer of his non-profit Kaizen CMR to become the non-profit Physicians and Surgeons Hospital Group d/b/a Tri-Lakes Medical Center, was transacted without knowledge of the hospital board.

Replying to the government attorney’s questions, Randolph said that large expenditures would be brought before the board for approval.

“Would you consider $250,000 a large expenditure?” the prosecutor asked.

“Yes,” replied Randolph.

“Were you aware of a $250,000 payment to Kaizen?” the prosecutor asked.

“No,” Randolph replied.

The questioning focused on a hospital directors’ meeting on December 8, 2005, apparently the board of directors’ first meeting following the November 15, 2005, purchase of Tri-Lakes from the City of Batesville and Panola County by the non-profit corporation.

That December 8, 2005, hospital board of directors meeting was also the focus of questioning when FBI computer expert Vickie Roberts took the stand. Roberts testified that she had examined a laptop computer, desktop computer and CDs taken from the home of David Vance during the investigation.

Vance, a hospital financier who worked with Corkern during the purchase of Tri-Lakes, and his wife, Mary, were in September, 2010 indicted for defrauding the Social Security Administration in connection with $600,000 consulting fees a business in her name had received from Tri-Lakes while he was receiving disability payments. The indictment was immediately ordered sealed to protect the ongoing investigation.

Vance died in a single car accident on October 3, 2010. The indictment was ordered unsealed and dismissed on October 11, 2011. Mary Vance had testified Thursday that she knew nothing of her husband’s business.

Friday afternoon’s foray into the FBI computer analyst’s findings on the Vance computer focused on an e-mail that was alleged to have been sent by David Vance to Shoemaker, inquiring about an item for consideration at the December 8, 2005, board meeting. In the e-mail, Vance asked whether the directors were going to be asked to approve the $250,000 payment to Shoemaker for his 501(3)c corporation.

“Are we going to do this tonight or some time later on?” the e-mail queried, according to the copy Roberts had extracted during her forensic examination.

Later, under cross examination Shoemaker attorney Heilman asked Roberts: “Do you have evidence that the e-mail was sent?”

“It was a saved e-mail I found,” she replied, with copies in numerous locations within the computer.

“You have no evidence that Shoemaker ever received it?” Heilman then asked, rhetorically.

Witness Andy Bussom, the health care auditor for the U. S. Attorney, provided lengthy testimony about his investigations into the finances at Tri-Lakes Medical Center during the Shoemaker/Corkern administration and into Shoemaker’s Kaizen CMR.

Bussom had prepared schedules from February, 2005 to July, 2007, showing invoice amounts to Tri-Lakes from Garner’s Guardian Angel and On-Call Staffing contract nursing services, and also payments by Tri-Lakes for the services. Responding to questioning by lead U. S. Attorney Charlie Spillers, Bussom said that his analysis showed that Tri-Lakes paid Garner’s businesses about $98,000 less than the hospital was invoiced.

The health care auditor had also prepared a schedule that traced deposits into and disbursements from an account in Shoemaker’s name at First Delta Credit Union where the $250,000 payment for Kaizen was allegedly deposited. Spillers questioned Bussman about the schedule, line by line. The auditor described disbursements to purchase autos as well as deposits from loan proceeds in addition to the deposit from the hospital payment. There was also a $50,000 disbursement to a First Covenant Presbyterian Church, cross examination by Shoemaker attorney Heilman revealed.

Garner attorney Bill Kirksey asked the auditor about documentation behind the invoices from his client’s nursing services.

“Before anybody paid On-Call or Guardian Angel, they would check to see that these people worked?” Kirksey asked.

“Based on the documents, that would appear to be the case,” Bussman answered.

The defense attorney and auditor then engaged in a series of questions and answers about how soon a vendor could reasonably expect payment for an invoice, a dialogue that produced no single answer but appeared to lead the auditor into irrelevant rambling.

“My client’s companies got shafted and didn’t get paid…?” Kirksey questioned.

“The exact figure, $98,393.13,” Bussman replied.

“No further questions,” Kirksey said.

Under Spillers’ redirect examination, Bussman testified that payments usually follow invoices at 30, 60 or 90 days, depending on the type of business. “There’s normally a lag,” he said.

Following Kirksey’s questioning of Bussman, U. S. District Judge Neal Biggers ordered a recess until 9:30 a.m. Monday, when the trial began its second week.