Patrick will be the first sitting Massachusetts governor to testify in a criminal trial since 1995.
BOB SALSBERG, Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) — Gov. Deval Patrick is set to take the stand in the federal corruption trial of former Massachusetts House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi and two co-defendants.
Prosecutors on Friday are expected to ask the governor if DiMasi pressured him or his administration in 2007 to approve a contract for the software company Cognos.
The ex-speaker, Richard McDonough and Richard Vitale have pleaded not guilty to an alleged scheme to use DiMasi's Statehouse clout to steer two software contracts worth a combined value of $17.5 million to Cognos, in exchange for kickbacks.
The administration has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
Patrick will be the first sitting Massachusetts governor to testify in a criminal trial since 1995, when then-Gov. William Weld was called in the trial of a state senator who was later acquitted of influence-peddling charges.
The governor arrived at John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse just after 9 a.m. Friday in a two-vehicle motorcade. His SUV was ushered into a rear garage, where he entered the courthouse out of view of the media throng gathered at the building's main entrance.
Assistant online editor Greg Saulmon contributed to this report.