Edwards takes stand in second federal corruption trial this year

Melinda Deslatte

Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2000 | 10:54 a.m.

BATON ROUGE, La. - Former Gov. Edwin Edwards strongly denied Wednesday that he did anything illegal while acting as an attorney for the owner of a failed insurance company being sued by the state.

In his second day on the stand in U.S. District Court, Edwards brushed aside prosecutors' allegations that he attempted to bribe then-state Judge Foster "Foxy" Sanders by using his influence over Baton Rouge-based U.S. attorney L.J. Hymel.

Prosecutors say Edwards offered to get Hymel off Sanders' back in a separate investigation in exchange for a favorable settlement in the insurance case, which Sanders oversaw.

But Edwards said it was Sanders who approached him for help that he could not and did not provide.

"I have no influence with the Justice Department," Edwards said. "They've been after me 25 years. I'm the last person in the world they would listen to."

Sanders has pleaded guilty in the case and testified against Edwards.

Edwards' attorney, Mike Small, asked the former governor, "Did you glean or did you get any special information from Mr. Hymel."

Edwards answered, "Didn't ask for any, and wasn't given any."

Edwards said he felt the insurance negotiations had nothing to do with Hymel's investigation of Sanders and did not understand why Sanders brought it up.

The former governor also denied he had ever pulled Sanders inside a car and asked him he wanted money for helping the settlement.

Edwards said to do that would have violated the code of ethics for lawyers.

"It's something I never would have considered doing," Edwards said.

The four-term former governor said he was hired by David Disiere to act as a "peacemaker, messenger, mediator, compromiser" in a contentious situation that had been likened to a war in earlier testimony.

Edwards' wife, Candy, and daughter, Anna, attend the trial every day. For the first time on Tuesday, Edwards' son, Stephen, and brother, Marion, showed up in court, along with Andrew Martin, who was convicted earlier this year with the former governor and his son on federal racketeering charges involving the licensing of riverboat casinos.

Edwards, Insurance Commissioner Jim Brown and attorney Ronald Weems are accused of setting up a favorable liquidation settlement for Cascade Insurance Co.

Prosecutors say the December 1996 settlement saved Disiere millions of dollars that the state should have been able to get to repay Cascade creditors.

Edwards said he became involved in the Cascade case in August 1996, when he met with Disiere and Weems. Weems was Disiere's attorney, but Weems and Sanders strongly disagreed over the Cascade case in a situation that escalated to Sanders citing Weems for contempt and Weems suing Sanders for civil rights violations.

Edwards said he was hired because he knew Sanders and could "dampen the acrimony and try to bring some understanding."

Edwards said he agreed to take the case but stipulated he didn't want to be involved in the settlement negotiations or the final agreement. He said he had no desire to learn more about the complicated and detailed insurance situation.

And he had a suggestion for Disiere. He said he warned Disiere he was a high-profile attorney who attracted a lot of attention, so he suggested keeping his participation confidential.

"Every time I spit on the sidewalk, the press writes about it," Edwards said. "Everything I do is controversial...If it's found out I'm the guy trying to negotiate this thing, it's going to complicate things."

Edwards was paid $100,000 for his work - $20,000 for each month he worked for Disiere.

Negotiators settled the Cascade case for a minimum of $2.5 million. State attorneys originally had asked for as much as $6 million.

Edwards, Weems and Brown are charged with insurance, mail and wire fraud and conspiracy in the 57-count indictment. Brown and Weems also are charged with lying to investigators.