The prosecution's star witness dealt a body blow to Nancy Workman's defense Thursday, testifying that Workman misled him with regard to what a new county employee would be doing.

At bottom, the case against Workman hinges on what was said in a June 2003 meeting between her and former chief administrative officer David Marshall.

In that meeting, which lasted less than 10 minutes, the former Salt Lake County mayor introduced Marshall to a woman named Alina Iorga and asked Marshall to put her on the county payroll. She told him she wanted to hire Iorga to make the county's health services more accessible, Marshall testified.

"I'd like her to be my eyes and ears in the community," he quoted Workman as saying. "I'd like her to be a community liaison to keep me apprised of health access issues."

In reality, Iorga had been working as an accountant at the Boys and Girls Clubs of South Valley for six months before the meeting — under the supervision of Workman's daughter, Aisza Wilde — and continued to do so after she was hired by the county.

"Did (Workman) mention that (Iorga) worked at the Boys and Girls Club?" special prosecutor Mike Martinez asked Marshall.

"Absolutely not," Marshall said.

"That she was supervised by Aisza?"

"No."

"That she was an accountant?"

"No."

"Do you believe the mayor was honest with you in her initial conversation with you concerning Alina Iorga?" Martinez asked later.

"No," Marshall answered.

Workman defense attorney Jack Morgan maintains that Marshall simply misunderstood Workman's intent, and in fact during cross-examination Marshall softened his stance slightly, saying he had "absolutely no recollection" of Workman ever mentioning anything about the Boys and Girls Club.

The defense is now left with the choice of whether to put Workman on the stand to counter Marshall's version of the meeting. Generally, the choice to put a defendant on the stand is dicey, because it leaves the defendant open to questions from the prosecution.

Lead defense attorney Greg Skordas has declined to say whether Workman will testify.

After the meeting with Workman, Marshall arranged for Iorga to be hired as a Salt Lake Valley Health Department employee under the direct supervision of the mayor — itself an unusual arrangement, even had Iorga been doing health-related work. That action set up a "line of miscommunication," in the words of defense attorney Jack Morgan, that resulted in a health department "ghost employee" and, ultimately, two felony charges of misuse of public money against Workman.

Former health department executive director Patti Pavey testified Thursday that she became increasingly concerned about this employee Iorga — and her successor, Jennifer Schroder — whom no one in the department had ever seen and who apparently wasn't even doing community outreach, as Pavey had been told she would do.