Trial begins for TSU's Wiggins

Opening statements began Tuesday in the trial of Quintin Wiggins, the former Texas Southern University CFO who is among those indicted on charges of misspending state money at the university — and, not surprisingly, Wiggins' attorney claims that what appeared to be the mishandling of funds was really just Wiggins carrying out orders from his bosses.

Wiggins is accused of misdirecting more than $200,000 in public funds toward furniture, landscaping and a home security system for former TSU President Priscilla Slade's private home. But there's nothing wrong with what he did, his attorney, L. Mickele Daniels, told jurors yesterday: "The evidence will show he relied on what was done by his predecessors," Daniels said. The purchasing of furniture was "not a novel thing that was done for Priscilla Slade. It's something that's always been done. ... Mr. Wiggins, the evidence will show, was doing his job." Prosecutor Donna Goode painted a different picture: "What you will hear is a story about greed, about abuse of power, about abuse of the public trust and about the arrogance of a couple of people who were in positions of trust: Priscilla Slade and Quintin Wiggins," she said. Goode told jurors that Wiggins used several tactics to try to hide the purchases, an allegation that seems to have been supported by the findings of a Bracewell & Giuliani investigation into Slade's spending last spring: The Bracewell report said Wiggins wrote a series of small checks for large expenses to get around certain spending caps and that he created a special fund for Slade's furniture purchases from a pool of money usually used for capital projects on the campus and credited the spending to his office rather than hers.

The first witness in the trial, Paula Frederick, was the school's CFO before Wiggins. She told jurors that she felt like Slade forced her out of her job to put Wiggins in: According to KHOU, Frederick resigned when she said it became apparent Slade wanted Wiggins in the position, and she was immediately escorted off campus by TSU police. Goode said Slade wanted Wiggins in as CFO because he was a yes man — and she claims Slade made sure Wiggins stuck around by tripling his salary and giving him his own expense account, which included a membership to a high-end golf club.

Wiggins's trial is expected to last at least three weeks. There are 50 people on the witness list, including Slade, who will stand trial herself in August.