Crain: Fuller asked him for second copy of state police report

Natalie Gott

Wednesday, March 29, 2000 | 6:38 a.m.

BATON ROUGE, La. - The gambling board member accused of passing along a report about riverboat casino applicants for former Gov. Edwin Edwards requested but did not get a second copy, according to testimony Wednesday in Edwards' federal racketeering trial.

Board chairman Hillary Crain said he told Ecotry Fuller, who is now on trial with Edwards, that he would not give him another copy because Fuller already had one.

Crain was not asked whether Fuller said why he needed an extra copy.

The report summarized results of a state police background investigation of the five applicants for Louisiana's 15th and final casino license.

Fuller is accused of giving it to state Sen. Greg Tarver, who allegedly passed it on to Edwards, who had left office a year earlier. Edwards sent the report to former San Francisco 49ers owner Edward DeBartolo Jr., who was awarded the license.

Crain is testifying as prosecutors wrap up their case against Fuller, Edwards, his son Stephen, Tarver, and three others. They have been on trial since Jan. 10, accused of a series of schemes to manipulate the way the state awarded casino licenses.

The trial has lasted 12 weeks, and prosecutors have said they hope to finish their case Thursday.

This part of the trial focuses on an allegation that Edwards extorted $400,000 from DeBartolo, who testified that Edwards demanded the money to make sure there were no problems with the license.

An FBI agent testified Tuesday that the report, which Fuller turned over to the government, had both Tarver's and Fuller's fingerprints on it.

The document was not marked "confidential," but Crain said he expected all board members to keep information he sent them to themselves.

"I don't know if I marked every document 'confidential,' even if it was confidential," he said.

DeBartolo's copy of the report was never found. Fuller produced his own report.

Crain testified about Fuller's call for another copy under cross-examination from Tarver's attorney, Mary Olive Pierson. Fuller's attorney, Craig Smith, did not bring the issue up when he questioned Crain.

Crain said board member Ralph Perlman also requested a second copy of the report. Perlman said he had lost his copy, but later found it in his office at the board's headquarters, Crain said.

He also admitted under cross-examination that dozens of people had access to the report. They included state police and some employees of the attorney general's office and the Department of Revenue, as well as gambling board members.

He also said he did not expect board members to keep the report after they read it. "It would not surprise me that once they read it, they threw it out," Crain said.

Defense attorneys also focused on the statement Crain made Wednesday that Edwards asked Perlman to vote for DeBartolo's application.

Crain said Perlman told him after he testified to the federal grand jury about Edwards' request.

Pierson played a taped conversation in which Edwards is heard asking Perlman if he should feel encouraged about DeBartolo's chances.

"Knowing you for 25 years, I know you are going to do what you think is right," Edwards said.

However, Crain said that might not have been the conversation the Perlman was talking about.

"The actual taped conversation is a little different than the way Perlman described it to you?" said Daniel Small, Edwards' attorney.

"I don't know if I can answer that," Crain responded.

The judge removed a fourth juror from the panel Wednesday, leaving only two alternates.

U.S. District Judge Frank Polozola did not give any reason for dismissing Juror No. 350. But in the past week he has given jurors strong warnings about discussing the case in public, telling them to walk away if anyone tries to talk to them about the case.

He joked in court that her seat - the fourth in the upper row - apparently is a "problem seat."

"I think that will be the third juror to sit in that seat," he said.

Jurors' names have not been made public. Juror No. 350 is white and is from West Baton Rouge Parish. A distant cousin of hers worked as a police officer at the Governor's Mansion while Edwards was in office.

She was replaced by Juror 335, a 54-year-old white woman who works as a technician and did not give personal information in front of the press.