Prosecutors rest in video poker trial

Monday, June 2, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Prosecutors let defense attorneys decide what to do about Joseph Mark Johnson of LaPlace, and eventually the defense asked Judge Sarah Vance to dismiss him.

She did so, and defense lawyers resumed cross-examining FBI agent Larry Jones, the final prosecution witness who began testifying last week.

Bankston and Rayburn are accused of taking or agreeing to take bribes from video poker operators Fred Goodson of Bogalusa and his daughter, Maria Goodson, to vote against bills that would have hurt video poker truck stops.

The Goodsons are on trial with the former senators. So are Goodson's attorney, Carl Cleveland, and accountant, Joe Morgan, accused of setting up a fraudulent business scheme to form the O'Aces video poker lounge and hide $1.3 million in profits.

Prosecutors say that during 1994 and 1995, when one of the hottest topics in the Legislature was whether to let voters decide the future of gambling, the six plotted to prevent such elections or make them meaningless.

Arthur "Buddy" Lemann pointed out that, even though Rayburn is accused of conspiring with Bankston and the others, it was two other senators whom Bankston described as swearing a "blood oath" not to let a local option bill out of committee unless it protected their friends.

"There was never any mention about Senator Rayburn taking a blood oath?" he asked.

"No, sir," Jones said.

And, Lemann noted, Rayburn was not among the 16 senators whose local option votes matched Bankston's every time.

He asked if Jones wanted the jury to consider both men's votes against one local option proposal as corrupt, and Jones said yes.

Then he brought up another, written by Sen. Tom Greene.

"Senator Bankston voted against it. It is your position that this was a corrupt vote?" Jones said yes.

"Senator Rayburn voted for it," Lemann said. "Is that a corrupt vote?"

"I don't know if it is or not," Jones said.

"You want it both ways, don't you?" Lemann responded.

Michele Fournet described Goodson, in her questions, as a legitimate businessman who did nothing more than protect a substantial investment required by the Legislature's 1994 law defining truck stops.

She noted that Rayburn did help Goodson find potential sites for video poker truck stops in Bogalusa

"Mr. Goodson is not suggesting that local people not have a voice, is he? He clearly expects a local voice in the case of video poker gambling? ... What he really wants is time to convince the local people that they ought to be allowed to continue? Isn't that what he says at the end of that tape?"

"Yes. At the end of the tape," Jones said.

She also tried, unsuccessfully, to get Jones to testify that Goodson was a blowhard and that some of his offers and suggestions were just attempts to make himself look big.