Judge sends jurors home for the day in Edwards case

Natalie Gott

Tuesday, April 4, 2000 | 10:43 a.m.

BATON ROUGE, La. - Jurors in the federal racketeering trial of former Gov. Edwin Edwards were sent home this morning so lawyers could argue whether a mistrial should be declared for one of Edwards' co-defendants.

At issue is how the trial should proceed now that co-defendant Bobby Johnson is at home recovering from quintuple heart bypass surgery that he had last week. Johnson, 54, will not be ready to return to the courtroom soon, his attorney, Pat Fanning, said.

A formal hearing could be held as early as this afternoon, after lawyers gather evidence about Johnson's medical condition, U.S. Judge Frank Polozola said. After he makes a decision on the request for a mistrial for Johnson, Polozola will allow the trial to resume but will suspend his ruling until the losing side can appeal it to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Jurors were told by Polozola before being excused that he was working to resolve an issue focusing on Johnson's health, but the judge did not provide them with any more details.

Johnson, Edwards, Edwards' son Stephen, state Sen. Greg Tarver and three others have been on trial since Jan. 10, accused in a series of schemes to manipulate the way the state awards riverboat casino licenses.

Prosecutors claim Johnson knew long before the trial started that he needed the surgery and could have had it last fall. Fanning denies that, saying Johnson tried alternatives to surgery that didn't work and only had the surgery when it was absolutely necessary.

Attorneys also spent most of Monday debating whether the trial should proceed or if a mistrial should be declared on Johnson's behalf.

Polozola had considered postponing the trial at least until next Monday because he said Johnson's doctors said they believed Johnson might be ready to participate in the trial by that time. However, Johnson would have had to participate via satellite from home.

Johnson would be connected to the courtroom either through a teleconferencing system so that he could see and hear the courtroom proceedings and jurors could see his face or just so that he could hear what was occurring in the courtroom, Polozola said.

Polozola also said he would consider appointing Johnson an additional attorney who would sit at home with him as he watched the court proceedings. The attorney would be there if Johnson needed to get a message to Fanning or needed guidance.

Fanning said he opposed having to represent his client via satellite. He said Johnson has a right to be present in the courtroom, and being absent might make him look bad in the eyes of jurors.

"There's not a lawyer in America that wants to put a defense on that way," Fanning said.

Fanning said he has had trouble finishing telephone conversations with Johnson because Johnson gets so upset that he has not been able to attend court since March 21 because of his heart problems. Johnson wants to testify, Fanning added.

"I can't imagine anything that is more distasteful than getting on the phone and telling him his case will go forward next week," Fanning said.

Prosecutor Todd Greenberg argued against a mistrial and pointed to a letter Fanning sent to the court in September 1999 that showed Johnson had six blocked arteries and surgery was the only way to treat it.

"He sat through the whole trial, he heard all the evidence against him and then he decided to go have the same surgery he needed six months ago," Greenberg said.

Also Monday, Tarver's attorney, Mary Olive Pierson, called the first defense witness, gambling board member, Judge Robert Fleming, who testified that he was never offered a bribe for his vote.

Fleming's testimony had nothing to do with what Johnson is accused of - extorting the former owners of the Belle of Baton Rouge and lying to the FBI.

Tarver is accused of getting a secret state police report on the casino applicants from gambling board member and co-defendant Ecotry Fuller and giving it to Edwards. Edwards allegedly passed the report to former San Francisco 49ers owner Edward DeBartolo Jr., who was applying for a license to build a riverboat in Bossier City.

Fleming said he learned after the gaming board approved DeBartolo's license application in 1997 that Edwards had asked board member Ralph Perlman about DeBartolo's project.

When prosecutor Mike Magner asked Fleming if he was aware that Edwards asked Perlman to vote for the DeBartolo project, Fleming said, "That's not the way (Perlman) described it." He did not elaborate.