The answer:  yes.  Mayor Eddie Perez owes it to the citizens of Hartford, and taxpayers all over the state who help fund the capital city to take the stand at his corruption trial.   The mayor has said he has nothing to hide and has insisted he is innocent.   If that is the case, the mayor should find giving testimony fairly easy. 

Lawyers for the three-term Democrat will probably advise him not to testify.  The Mayor isn’t known for being quick on his feet when it comes to public speaking, and he will be going up against prosecutors who are.   

Nevertheless, the mayor has a moral obligation to testify.  If he doesn’t and is acquitted, there will always be a cloud of doubt hanging over him.    The jury will be told they can not  hold the decision not to testify against a defendant. 

The public has no such restriction. 

Meanwhile, Colin McEnroe has a great column as to why the Perez trial is so important.    

http://blogs.courant.com/colin_mcenroe_to_wit/2010/05/why-the-eddie-perez-case-matte.html

Also, if you’d like to watch the Mayor’s last extended  interview about the case, here he is on his last appearance on “Face the State,”   from August 2007.    We have invited him back on, but the Mayor has declined every invitation.

http://www.wfsb.com/video/18578879/index.html