Transcript reveals another juror in Edwards’ case may have talked

Melinda DeSlatte

Thursday, Oct. 19, 2000 | 4:26 a.m.

BATON ROUGE, La. - Former Gov. Edwin Edwards' gambling corruption trial was plagued with reports that some jurors were talking about the case as it was underway, and unsealed documents released Thursday show yet another such allegation.

Edwards, his son Stephen and three others were convicted in May in connection with a scheme to extort hundreds of thousands of dollars from businessmen applying for riverboat casino licenses. The men will be sentenced Dec. 6. They are appealing their convictions.

Stephen Edwards received a message on his answering machine from a man who wouldn't identify himself but claimed to have information about one of the jurors, according to a transcript of a May 10 meeting between attorneys and the judge.

Stephen Edwards' attorney, Jim Cole, stated that the caller said a female juror had been talking about the case when she was playing cards at the Mecca Inn in Port Vincent. The jurors' identities were kept secret, and Cole said the caller didn't know the woman's jury number but claimed to know her name.

Cole said the call came less than a day after the verdict was read and before the jury began deliberating about their recommendation of how much money the convicted men should forfeit.

"It came, literally, hours, not even 24 hours, after a verdict relative to the guilty phase, so that's certainly problematic relative to a person who chose to make this call," said federal prosecutor Jim Letten.

U.S. District Judge Frank Polozola asked for suggestions from attorneys on what to do with the information.

"I think that rather than run after a ghost down various trails, based upon anonymous calls, that we're simply asking the court to give anonymous calls lesser weight," Letten said.

"I think our position, Judge, is that you can't ignore this," Cole said. "...I think the determining factor is whether there is sufficient information in the call to provide a basis for inquiry."

The actual decision the attorneys and judge made wasn't available Thursday. A nine-page section of the transcript still was sealed. But no jurors were dismissed after the verdict was read.

Juror 350 was dismissed earlier in the trial for talking about the case during a trip to the beauty shop. Edwards' wife, Candy, said she received information that the wife of Juror 235 was talking extensively about the case, but that juror was never dismissed.

Also in documents unsealed Thursday were prosecutors' responses to the defendants' motion for a new trial or acquittal because of defendant Bobby Johnson's heart condition.

Johnson left the courtroom midway through the trial to undergo heart bypass surgery to replace five blocked arteries and never returned during the trial.

Defense attorneys argued that Johnson couldn't defend himself because he wasn't in court each day to hear and see the testimony against him and the other accused men.

Prosecutors claimed Johnson knew of his heart condition before the trial and chose to wait and have the operation during the trial. They said he was present during the government's case against him and knew the evidence to properly defend himself.