PITTSBURGH — State Sen. Jane Orie took the witness stand and testified Monday in her own defense during her trial on political corruption charges.

She answered questions from her attorney, William Costopoulos, in testimony that lasted most of the afternoon. She was to resume her testimony this morning under questioning by Assistant District Attorney Lawrence Claus.

Taking the stand on the 13th day of testimony during the trial, Orie told the jury she always “wanted my opportunity to speak to the people” by testifying.

Costopoulos sought to hammer home one point to the jury: throughout Orie’s rapid ascent to the state Senate, she never used her state-paid staff illegally.

Orie, R-40th, is charged with 10 counts including theft of services from the state and criminal conspiracy. She’s charged by the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office with using her state-paid staff to work on campaigns and other political work, which is illegal under state law.

Staffers are free to work on campaigns during their free time but are forbidden in engaging in such activity while on the state’s clock.

During her testimony, Orie almost always looked straight at the jury when answering her attorney’s questions and hardly showed any emotion.

She gave many similar answers, especially regarding Costopoulos’ questions about whether she trusted her former chief of staff, Jamie Pavlot, to carry out orders that legislative and political work be separated in her office and that no comp time was to be given for campaign activities.

Orie said several times she trusted Pavlot “wholeheartedly” and that she always believed Pavlot would “follow my directives and enforce my directives.”

Costopoulos presented dozens of e-mails, memos and other correspondences Orie sent to Pavlot. In those documents, Orie repeatedly told Pavlot that campaign work being done in her legislative office wouldn’t be tolerated.

Orie even forced her staff to watch a 75-minute video that explained the state’s Ethics Act, the very act she’s charged with violating.

According to a documents presented by Costopoulos, Orie forced her staffers to sign a paper that proved they understood the video.

In another memo produced by her attorney, Orie told her staff in July 2001 that political work is to be done on a volunteer basis and that in no instance should staffers engage in such work on the state’s time.

“Please note that I cannot give back time that is considered political in nature,” the memo read. “This would not be appropriate for a state employee to be given comp time for political reasons.”

Another memo, sent to a worker in Orie’s Cranberry office only days later, reinforced her position on the matter.

“I’ve been very clear,” it said. “No comp time for political work.”

Orie also testified that she was not a micromanager like Pavlot suggested and wasn’t aware if or when campaign work was done in her office.

In testimony last week, Pavlot said she didn’t remember getting or reading many of the same memos Costopoulos presented to the jury today.

The state senator said she “went ballistic” on Pavlot after a University of Pittsburgh intern contacted authorities and claimed campaign work was being done on Orie’s office.

She said she got angry because Pavlot admitted that some campaign materials had been completed and printed off in the days before the intern contacted authorities.

Before Costopoulos finished questioning his client, Orie identified herself as a dedicated public servant who would never betray her constituents.

“I love what I do,” she said. “I was a workaholic and the Senate was my world.”

In an odd scene Monday morning, Costopoulos presented more than 60 character witnesses, many of whom rode a chartered bus to the courthouse from the North Hills.

About a dozen of those witnesses actually took the stand. They included World War II veterans, police officers, firefighters, a former radio news personality and a former New York City police officer wounded during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

In testimonies that rarely lasted more than three minutes, Costopoulos asked many of those character witnesses if Orie was a “truthful, law-abiding citizen.”

Many said Orie’s reputation was impeccable and beyond reproach.

In a courtroom that has been typically half-full for the duration of the trial, Costopoulos turned around Monday morning to a packed, capacity crowd in the gallery and asked the remaining character witnesses to stand.

More than 50 did so, and all were administered the oath simultaneously. After the oath, each stated their name and occupation and stated that they’d be willing to testify about Orie’s character if called upon to do so.

Closing arguments in the case could come as soon as Wednesday.