Defense grills key witness in Wembley case.

By Edward Fitzpatrick, The Providence Journal, R.I. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Feb. 4--PROVIDENCE -- Defense lawyers grilled a key prosecution witness in the Lincoln Park bribery-conspiracy trial yesterday, attempting to portray Francis J. "Skip" Sherman as a disgruntled worker rather than a whistleblower.

Sherman, former president of Wembley USA, has testified that he resigned as president and director of Lincoln Park in 2001 because he considered it improper and illegal to make proposed payments of $4 million to then-House Speaker John B. Harwood's law firm.

Defense lawyers zeroed in on how much money and prestige Sherman was about to lose in a reorganization, which called for Lincoln Park to report directly to London-based Wembley plc rather than to Sherman at Denver-based Wembley USA.

The change would have left Sherman in charge of Colorado dog and horse tracks, which had $5 million in earnings, while removing much of his responsibility for …