Edwards appears in court to challenge extortion conviction

Kevin McGill

Tuesday, June 4, 2002 | 9:46 a.m.

NEW ORLEANS -- The judge in former Gov. Edwin Edwards' 2000 extortion trial was so desperate to avoid a mistrial that he threw the lone holdout for acquittal off the jury that eventually convicted Edwards, attorney Alan Dershowitz told a federal appeals court Monday.

"This judge was hell-bent on removing this juror," Dershowitz told the three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Higginson argued U.S. District Judge Frank Polozola had no choice in light of other jurors' complaints that he was refusing to deliberate.

Higginson added the juror also brought notes in and out of the deliberation room, a violation of court rules, and was untruthful when Polozola first asked him about those notes.

More than two years after his May 9, 2000, conviction on racketeering and extortion charges, Edwards, 74, was seeking a new trial in hopes of avoiding a 10-year prison sentence. His son, Stephen, and three others are codefendants, all convicted in a scheme to extort money from applicants for riverboat casino licenses in Louisiana.

"I'm seeking what I was denied in the District Court -- justice," Edwards, said as he arrived at the court. "I'm confident that here I'll get it."

Defense lawyers argued wiretaps used to gather evidence in the case were illegal and Polozola should not have empaneled an anonymous jury.

But Polozola's removal of a juror after deliberations began, leaving 11 others to decide the case, appeared to be the major part of the defense case.

Dershowitz said the notes Juror 68 allegedly took in and out of the jury room were of no significance and it was clear to Polozola that the juror wanted to acquit Edwards.

Higginson argued Polozola worked to avoid any judgment on whether the juror was a holdout and the juror's untruthfulness about the notes was key to his removal. There's no such thing as a "minor lie" to a judge, Higginson said.

Edwards was four days away from beginning his prison sentence last year when the appeals court took the unusual step of allowing him and his codefendants to remain free during appeal. His son and codefendant, Stephen, was in court along with another codefendant, Bobby Johnson. However, two other defendants, Andrew Martin and Cecil Brown, have since been convicted in other cases and are serving prison sentences. They were not allowed to attend.

Edwards served four terms as governor between 1972 and 1996 and built a reputation as a deft politician who helped modernize state government. But government sometimes seemed a sideshow to his high living and battles with federal prosecutors.

Tried and acquitted on racketeering charges during his third term, he was, by his own count, the subject of some two-dozen investigations.