Ex-Lawmaker Wins a Partial Acquittal

Former Missouri House speaker Bob Griffin was acquitted on three bribery counts, but the Kansas City jury deadlocked on six other counts involving bribery, mail fraud and racketeering. U.S. Atty. Steven Hill said Griffin, House speaker from 1981 until January 1996, will be retried on those charges. Griffin and Michael Fisher, president of the Greater Kansas City AFL-CIO, were accused of helping steer lobbying contracts to political consultant Cathryn M. Simmons from 1992 to 1994. Lobbyist Steven Hurst was accused of acting as a liaison between Griffin and Simmons. The jury acquitted Hurst. Simmons was convicted on 18 of 20 counts, and Fisher was found guilty on four counts.