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CNN Live At Daybreak

Gold Club Trial: Patrick Ewing to Testify

Aired July 23, 2001 - 07:10   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: The racketeering trial of a strip club owner takes a new turn this morning with the expected testimony of a NBA star.

CNN's Brian Cabell is covering the Gold Club trial in Atlanta.

Brian, who is it that everyone is talking about this morning?

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it looks like Patrick Ewing, a long-time NBA star, will testifying this morning for the prosecution, the first of the big name witnesses -- he, of course, a former player with the NBA New York Knicks. He recently was traded to the Orlando Magic.

He will testify, according to the prosecution, that he did in fact receive sexual services at the Gold Club some years ago. Apparently, he will testify also about a visit made by some entertainers, some strippers, in 1997 to a Charleston, South Carolina hotel, where the Knicks were preparing for the playoffs.

This, of course, is a trial not just about prostitution. It is a wide, broad-ranging racketeering indictment involving money-skimming, credit card fraud, money laundering, police corruption and payoffs to the mob. But, of course, it is the big names that have attracted all of the attention -- not only Ewing, but also Jamal Anderson and Terrell Davis, running backs in the NFL, Andruw Jones, a young outfielder for the Atlanta Braves, Dikembe Mutombo, a former Atlanta Hawk here.

We don't know if all of them are going to be testifying. But today we understand prosecutors are calling Patrick Ewing. And he will be testifying for the prosecution. No charges have been filed against any of them. They have not committed any crimes. But they will bolster the prosecution's contention that racketeering was taking place at the Gold Club, which is a nightclub about five miles north of here -- back to you.

MCEDWARDS: All right. Brian Cabell, thanks very much -- Brian Cabell covering that trial for us here in Atlanta. It is expected to go on right into the fall.

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