Tait told the jury he could not say which of Ferguson's criticisms were defamatory, relying instead on the opinion of the pension board's lawyer.
Gillis got Tait to agree Ferguson was exercising his right as a councillor to speak out on a matter of public concern freely even if what he says is hotly disputed.
Tait also agreed Ferguson didn't want to go public but failed to have the pension issue discussed in closed session three separate times.
Common Council was not provided with an explanation of the financial consequences of early retirements in 2003 and was led to believe there would be no additional cost to the city's pension plan.
As turned out, the early retirement package wound up costing the plan more than 2 million dollars.
