Court remains out of session because of defendant’s health

Natalie Gott

Thursday, March 23, 2000 | 12:02 p.m.

BATON ROUGE, La. - The racketeering trial of former Gov. Edwin Edwards was on hold today because one of his co-defendants was told he needed immediate open heart surgery.

The lawyers and U.S. District Judge Frank Polozola went into chambers to talk about the case of Baton Rouge contractor Bobby Johnson, who was told by a doctor Wednesday that he should have a quadruple heart bypass in the next few days.

Johnson is accused of attempting to extort Jazz Enterprises, which obtained a riverboat casino license for Baton Rouge in 1994. Prosecutors said the company never paid Johnson.

Johnson is one of seven defendants in the case, including Edwards and Edwards' son Stephen, who have been on trial since Jan. 10.

Johnson, who was taking drugs to reduce his blood pressure to prepare himself for surgery, underwent blood dye tests Wednesday and his doctors said he needed surgery.

The judge called prosecutors and defense attorneys into his office to discuss what to do about Johnson's case. One option would be to sever him from the trial; another way would be to allow the trial to continue without him.

The trial already had been recessed on Tuesday because of a sick juror, a fifth-grade teacher in East Baton Rouge Parish who bolted from court when she felt ill.

Three jurors already have been have been removed from the case, leaving a total of 15 jurors on the panel. Twelve will deliberate and three are alternates.

The delays mean almost surely that testimony from the government's star witness, former San Francisco 49ers owner Edward DeBartolo Jr., is now likely to come next week.

Before he can be called, defense attorneys have more questions for FBI agent Geoffrey Santini, and prosecutors plan to call two more FBI agents, gaming board chairman Hillary Crain and DeBartolo's business associate, Ed Muransky.

Edwards, Stephen, state Sen. Greg Tarver of Shreveport, and four others are accused in a series of schemes to manipulate the way the state awards riverboat casino licenses. The schemes allegedly began before Edwards took his fourth and final term in office in 1992 and continued on after he left office in 1996.

In this part of the case, prosecutors are trying to prove that in 1997, Edwards extorted $400,000 from DeBartolo, who eventually received a riverboat casino license. DeBartolo gave the license back after he testified before the federal grand jury looking into Edwards and his business dealings.

Santini has been on the witness stand for four days interpreting conversations between Edwin and Stephen Edwards and DeBartolo. When court adjourned Tuesday, Tarver's attorney, Mary Olive Pierson, was questioning Santini.

Polozola already had scheduled a day off for Monday, and another juror has requested a day off late next week so she can be at the hospital when her granddaughter is born.