Prosecutors discuss more investigations, obstruction of justice

Melinda Deslatte

Thursday, Jan. 4, 2001 | 3:13 a.m.

BATON ROUGE, La. - Federal attorneys who prosecuted former Gov. Edwin Edwards in a casino licensing corruption trial said in a closed door meeting that there was an ongoing investigation into possible misconduct related to that case.

Prosecutors said the investigation dealt with possible obstruction of justice and juror or witness tampering, but didn't name who was being investigated or explain the scope of the matter, according to a transcript of the Dec. 7 meeting, released late Wednesday.

"We believe that there is an open investigation now concerning obstruction of justice and witness tampering, and we plan on pursuing this strenuously," Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Magner told U.S. District Judge Frank Polozola in a meeting in the judge's chambers.

When asked about the comments in the transcript, Edwards said Thursday that he had no knowledge of any such investigation.

"They have on a number of occasions made statements that were improper, and on most instances there never was any follow up," Edwards said of the prosecutors. "I don't know of any such investigation. I don't know what they were thinking when they said that."

The former four-term Democratic governor was convicted in May, along with his son Stephen and three other men, on charges he extorted hundreds of thousands of dollars from businessmen applying for riverboat casino licenses during and after his final term in office.

All the men plan to appeal. Their sentencing hearing is scheduled to begin Monday.

The misconduct comments were made during a discussion between attorneys and Polozola concerning allegations that the jury foreman made statements about his belief in the guilt of Edwards two years before he was ever selected for the jury.

The foreman, Juror 64, denied the allegations. The names of the jurors were not disclosed so jurors are referred to only by their numbers.

After court marshals investigated the matter and Polozola interviewed the foreman and two witnesses, the judge said he saw no basis to excuse the juror or declare a mistrial.

During the testimony in chambers, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said the government planned to "pursue investigation of possible jury tampering and possible obstruction of justice."

The prosecutors didn't indicate if the misconduct investigation only was limited to the accusations against the foreman or a broader variety of allegations.

Letten said Thursday he would not comment further on the investigation.

Jim Cole, attorney for Edwards' son Stephen, said he knew of no instances of tampering or obstruction from the defendants in the riverboat case.

After ruling against dismissing the juror, Polozola said he was concerned about the number of times people have claimed jurors in the trial had talked about the case.

Polozola said he wanted to make sure it was not an attempt to obstruct justice or harass the individual jurors, who remain anonymous.

"Frankly, I'm getting tired of people beating up this jury," he said.

In earlier unsealed documents, Polozola said he used an anonymous jury mainly because of accusations of juror tampering in Edwards' criminal trials in the 1980s.

Edwards was indicted in 1985 on racketeering charges based on hospital and nursing home investments. After one mistrial, he was acquitted.