Jury selection began this morning in the federal corruption trial of Caddo Parish judges Michael Walker and Vernon Claville, who are accused of taking bribes in return for favorable sentences and bond reductions.
Prospective jurors this afternoon were being questioned individually in a room adjacent to the courtroom.
Federal prosecutors have built a racketeering case involving intercepted cell phone conversations, surveillance and testimony from bondsmen who admit they were middlemen who arranged and delivered bribes in return for favors for clients.
Both men deny the charges.
Court filings indicate a key element of the case will be the interpretation of the interception cell phone conversations.
Investigators in the case, code-named Broken Gavel, believe Walker, who presided over drug cases at Caddo District Court, had bribes delivered to him at casinos and other locations.
Investigators said he would get a call from a middleman, phone the jail and order a bond reduced to an affordable amount, and get cash in quick succession. He also is accused of recalling arrest warrants and removing probation holds on drug defendants in return for kickbacks, U.S. Attorney Donald Washington has said.
Claville, a juvenile court judge, allegedly took kickbacks to lift holds so individuals could get out of jail, the indictment charges.
In court filings, the defense has said the intercepted conversations are explainable. Walker's lawyer said he and one of the bondsmen were like brothers.
Jury selection began in U.S. District Court in Shreveport before Judge Maurice Hicks. Two days have been set aside for jury selection and the trial is expected to last about two weeks.
One-time co-defendant Larry Williams, a bondsman, pleaded guilty to state bribery charges last week and agreed to testify for the government.
The extent of his assistance at the judges' trial -- and any other investigations arising out of the Walker-Claville case -- will be a factor in the 42-year-old Williams' sentence.
Both Walker and Claville took voluntary leaves with pay after their indictments last October.
