Defense rests in John Wiley Price corruption trial

Defense attorneys rested Thursday afternoon in the John Wiley Price corruption trial after just two days of testimony.

Most notably, the Dallas County commissioner did not take the stand in his own defense.

The heart of the government's case is that Price received $1 million in bribes. But the CPA testifying for the defense said Thursday he could explain all but $140,000 dollars of the so-called bribes.

The expert witness worked to explain that the $1 million wasn't bribes, but repayments Price received from loans he he'd given.

The CPA, paid by the defense, re-constructed all of the bank transactions from thousands of pages of multiple bank accounts. He testified that while the payments look suspicious, there are explanations.

Trial attorney Chrysta Castaneda has been watching the trial from the courtroom. She said the fact the defense rested earlier than expected means they feel good about their case.

On cross examination Thursday afternoon, prosecutors worked to pick apart the CPA's work. They also showed jurors a check that they said appeared to be forged by Price in the name of his aide, Daphney Fain. 

Prosecutors also showed Kathy Nealy was paying a car repair shop $2,000 per month for seven months.

The jury is off Friday and Monday. Closing arguments could begin as early as Tuesday after the government presents its rebuttal.