HARTFORD, Conn. -- Mayor Eddie Perez faced a judge on bribery and tampering charges Tuesday.

Perez’s motion to dismiss the charges was denied by the judge, meaning the case will go to trial.

Judge Rejects Mayor's Plea To Dismiss Charges

Perez has pleaded not guilty to charges of receiving a bribe, tampering with physical evidence and conspiracy to commit tampering with physical evidence.

The charges were brought against the mayor in connection with his hiring of a city contractor to renovate his home.

Perez argued in his motion to dismiss that grand jury testimony contradicted the state's allegations. The motion says the testimony backed up the mayor's contention that he intended to pay for the renovations.

Perez's lawyers argued that the bribery charges against him related to work done at his home by a city contractor should be thrown out. They claimed the arrest warrant affidavit doesn't have enough support to show a bribe actually took place.
"There is no real claim in the affidavit, as you look at it, of a corrupt agreement, which is the essence of bribery," defense attorney Hubert Santos said. "You have to have a corrupt agreement."

He said the events are more of a misunderstanding over when Perez would pay, and that city contractor Carlos Costa received nothing in return for that work.

"Mr. Costa didn't get much, if anything, for that so-called benefit," Santos said.

But prosecutors argued that the charges are well-founded, in part, based on Costa's testimony before a grand jury that he thought free work was expected.

"With the tacit understanding that this is the mayor of the city where I work, where I have this contract, and this is the way the game is played," said Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney Christopher Alexy said.

Judge Julia Dewey ruled that there's a presumption that arrest warrants in Connecticut are valid unless there's serious misconduct. She also said Connecticut law allows for implied bribery agreements.

"The motion to dismiss is denied," she said. "I'm not saying what the ultimate result is going to be, but the standard for pretrial you have not met."

State prosecutors allege the contractor, who was also arrested, did $40,000 worth of work at Perez's home and Perez paid for it only after being confronted by investigators.

Jury selection is expected to begin on the Wednesday after Labor Day.