State Representative James O'Day left Boston's federal courthouse Monday after testifying in the Massachusetts probation trial that in 2008, the then-Ways and Means Chair and now-House Speaker Robert DeLeo called him asking if he knew of anyone interested in working at ELMO, the Probation Department's new Electronic Monitoring Facility in Clinton.
O'Day says he did recommend someone who did get a job there.
Federal prosecutors are trying to show that three former probation department officials - former commissioner John O'Brien and his two top deputies, Elizabeth Tavares and William Burke - offered lawmakers jobs at the ELMO facility as bribes or gratuities in exchange for favorable treatment at budget time.
State Rep. Hank Naughton also took the stand Monday, testifying he had gotten a call from DeLeo asking if he knew someone who would want a job at ELMO.
The prosecution got both Reps O'Day and Naughton to say they had supported DeLeo in his 2009 bid for House Speaker, but both say the opportunity to offer jobs to constituents had no influence on that decision.
Meanwhile, Judge William Young excused a second juror due to the trial running longer than expected.
Young is trying to get the attorneys to wrap their case by mid-July.
The testimony of Probation Personnel Director Janet Mucci will continue Tuesday. She is alleged to have helped advance the hiring process by passing names from Commissioner O'Brien to those who did the hiring.
