Guidry back on witness stand; juror dismissed

BATON ROUGE, La. - A juror was dismissed today in the federal racketeering trial of Edwin Edwards.

He was identified as juror number 453, a laborer from East Baton Rouge Parish, and one of only two black jury members. He was replaced by a white male.

No reason was given for his dismissal although he had been seen apparently sleeping through some testimony.

Whatever the reason for the dismissal, U.S. District Judge Frank Polozola sought to assure the public that the juror had not meant to do anything that would get him thrown out. "What happened was by no means intentional by Mr. 453," Polozola said.

When the trial resumed at mid-morning, star prosecution witness Robert Guidry, the former owner of the Treasure Chest Casino, took the stand for the sixth day. The questions posed by prosecutors were friendlier today than they had been during four days of sometimes high-pressure cross examination by defense lawyers.

Guidry began his testimony on Jan. 29, claiming under questioning that he sealed an extortion deal with Edwards in 1994, midway through his final term. That deal allegedly called for Edwards to help Guidry get a valuable riverboat casino license in return for monthly $100,000 payments that began after Edwards left office in 1996.

Today, Guidry was again being questioned by Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Harper. The two did a review of multimillionaire Guidry's finances aimed at countering defense attorney Jim Cole's contention, during last week's cross examination, that Guidry may not have kept enough cash on hand at home and in his checking account to make the alleged payoffs.

Harper went through Guidry's finances from 1994-97 and Guidry agreed that he had more than $2 million in cash on hand at his home by the end of April 1997, even after making the $1.5 million in payoffs.

Edwards, his son, Stephen and five others are on trial for allegedly accepting payoffs from Guidry and other casino applicants.

Guidry pleaded guilty in October 1998 to an extortion charge for paying the Edwardses. He was fined $3.5 million and faces up to five years in prison.

Guidry admitted Friday that there were many inconsistencies in his testimony and the plea agreement he signed.

Some of the dates of the alleged payments and bank withdrawals were mixed up and terms of the alleged agreements also were incorrect, Guidry admitted.

For instance, in a document he signed when he pleaded guilty, Guidry said Martin had demanded a percentage of the Treasure Chest's net proceeds.

Guidry on Friday changed his answer to say Martin wanted a percentage of the gross revenue from the boat.

Harper requestioned Guidry about statements he had made to defense attorneys.

He honed in on Guidry's alleged payment to Stephen Edwards in April 1997. Guidry had testified that he and Stephen Edwards drove their cars to a side road so Guidry could toss the Edwardses payments through his car window into Stephen Edwards' van.

Defense attorneys had presented an FBI document that never indicated there had been a payoff.

Guidry told Harper that the payoff did occur, and the payment was not a legal fee.

"I never pay legal fees by throwing money through a window, so it was not a fee," Guidry said.

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