Witness says lawyer tried to trade influence for lucrative job

     Associated Press
      SHREVEPORT, La. -- Politically connected attorney William Broadhurst unsuccessfully demanded a lucrative six-figure consulting contract from a developer seeking a riverboat casino license in Louisiana, a government witness testified Thurdsay.
      Broadhurst, the ex-law partner of former Gov. Edwin Edwards, made several proposals to developer Christopher Hemmeter -- ranging from a 30-year deal at $720,000 a year to a 20-year deal at $480,000 annually, said Cesar "Cid" Froelich, one of Hemmeter's attorneys.
      Broadhurst is on trial in federal court on charges of skimming $186,000 from construction contracts for two riverboat casinos that made up the River City complex in New Orleans. River City operated for only six weeks in 1995 before it collapsed into bankruptcy.
      Broadhurst received the kickbacks from Republic Corporate Services, which had as its chief consultant another Edwards crony, Gus Mijalis, prosecutors allege.
      The consultant contract demands came in 1993, the year before Hemmeter's Grand Palais Riverboat Inc. and another company received their licenses for River City, Froelich said.
      Froelich said he felt that Broadhurst had "the ultimate leverage."
      "I presumed that if Bill didn't feel like he had been dealt with fairly by us, he could change the legislation ... to take away our gaming license," Froelich said.
      Although Hemmeter worked as a consultant for Grand Palais, he never received the long-term contract, Froelich said.
      On Wednesday, former Gov. Edwin Edwards testified that he would never have told state police not to consider a company's finances when deciding whether it should get a license.
      When Edwards finished testifying, the then-No. 2 man in state police took the stand to say Edwards did precisely that.
      Gambling critics have long said that Louisiana's original riverboat licenses were awarded to companies with political connections to the former governor and that Edwards intervened on their behalf.
      "I guess I'm a hands-on governor and more involved than most," Edwards told the jury. But, he said, ultimate responsibility rested with the casino board and state police.
      Edwards and Norris both testified about a call Edwards made while state police were considering whether Hemmeter was a suitable person to run a Louisiana casino.
      Edwards testified that Broadhurst called him, upset because questions had been raised about Hemmeter's financial suitability to get a license for Grand Palais Riverboat Inc., one of the River City partners.
      Edwards said he mistakenly thought Broadhurst was saying that one of the people on the state police panel had brought up the topic -- but when he learned it was a witness, he was not worried.
      Broadhurst "felt it was unfair to spring this on the hearing without advance notice. ... He wanted a chance to rebut it, which I thought was fair," Edwards said.
      At that point, Edwards said, he picked up the phone and called Norris.
      "I said to him, `What is it one of these panel members said about Hemmeter's financial suitability?' He said it was not a panel member, it was a revenue agent. I said, `Oh. Don't worry about it,' " Edwards said.
      However, Norris testified that Edwards told him he did not think financial suitability was something state police should be considering.
      "I said `Governor, I respectfully disagree.' He said, `Take it for what it's worth, I don't think it's what you should be looking at.' "
      Edwards denied telling Norris that financial responsibility was not part of state police duties.
      "Oh, no. I certainly would not tell him that. That is one of their responsibilities. I may have said a panel member sitting there as judge should not be giving evidence," Edwards said.
      Norris said he did not relay the governor's statement.
      "I said y'all make your decision and then I'll tell you what the governor had to say. I wanted their decision to be made on what was in their hearts," Norris said.
      State police gave Grand Palais the license.
      H.T. "Tom" Robinson, who was in charge of developing the New Orleans riverboat and land casino for Hemmeter, testified that Broadhurst worked out of his office and that he relied on Broadhurst.
      However, he said he had no idea that Broadhurst was also getting a commission from Bender Shipyard, the company which Grand Palais Riverboat hired to build its casino, on that project and on the twin boat built for River City's other partner, Capital Gaming International Inc.
      Bender was paying a 3 percent commission to Republic, which was owned by Mijalis' nephew, Sammy Mijalis. Republic then paid half of its commission to Broadhurst.
      Robinson said he and Hemmeter both were angry and incredulous when they learned about that deal.
      When he confronted Broadhurst about the payment, Robinson said, "Mr. Broadhurst told me it was part of the fee structure -- compensation for what he had done for Grand Palais Riverboat and Capital Gaming."
      Broadhurst kept his money, but both Grand Palais and Capital Gaming cut 3 percent out of Bender's payments. For Grand Palais, the total reduction came to $698,850, cutting the final price from just over $29 million to just under $28.4 million.