Cajun Caper?

The charges against Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards, 58, and seven of his associates, including a brother and a nephew, fill 53 pages crammed with 50 counts of racketeering, fraud and obstruction of justice. U.S. District Judge Marcel Livaudais Jr. needed one hour and 15 minutes just to read the allegations in New Orleans last week. All told, the trial could go on for two months and entail the examination of up to 80 witnesses. Even before the proceedings began, each of the jurors was sandbagged with five fat folders, 2 in. to 3 in. thick and packed with pertinent documents. So it was with some skepticism that the six men and six women greeted Federal Prosecutor John Volz's attempt to offer them some blithe assurance. Said he: "This is not a complicated case."

What the Government intends to prove, Volz declared, is that the defendants used lying, bribery and influence peddling to obtain valuable state certification for phony hospital and nursing- home corporations, which they then sold for some $9 million. Volz did admit that the alleged caper involved some "complex shenanigans."

Complexity should be one of the few aspects of the case that will not be disputed by the 15 defense lawyers. The defense insists that Edwards took part in a legitimate business enterprise launched while he was a private lawyer and concluded last year, before he became Governor for the third time. The $2 million Edwards received, his advocates say, was for legal services.

The prosecution argues that Edwards did nothing to earn legal fees and that the money was, in part, advance payments for actions he later took as Governor to benefit his partners. After Edwards regained office, Volz insisted, his brother Marion acted as "bagman" to hold Edwards' share of the resulting profits. Said Volz: "Marion Edwards did not do a lick of work, yet he walked away with $1 million." Beyond routine greed, Volz declared, the Governor had a pressing need for money: some $800,000 in Las Vegas gambling debts.

Famed for his winning Cajun charm and admitted fondness for wagering and women, the Governor glanced about the courtroom and grinned when the prosecutor spoke of his "staggering" gaming debts. Later he said he was more optimistic than ever about beating the rap. Only the sixth sitting Governor in this century to be indicted,* Edwards, despite being on trial four days a week, continues to run the state.

FOOTNOTE: *The other five: Indiana's Warren McCray (1923) and Ed Jackson (1927); North Dakota's William Langer (1934); Maryland's Marvin Mandel (1975); West Virginia's Arch Moore Jr. (1975).