by TChris

Former Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards is challenging his conviction of extorting payoffs for casino riverboat licenses. He contends that the federal judge presiding in his case, Frank J. Polozola, was too batty to be on the bench. To prove his contention, Edwards wants to introduce evidence from a lawsuit that Judge Polozola brought in state court arising out of a traffic accident. Edwards contends that Judge Polozola admitted in his accident suit that he was impaired by his use of Oxy Contin during a time frame that includes Edwards' trial.

In the accident case, filed in 1998, Judge Polozola, 62, sought compensation for a "serious physical injury" that caused him mental anguish and "impairment of function." In the trial in 2000, Mr. Edwards's lawyers wrote in filings, the judge engaged in "erratic, even paranoid" behavior. The accident case was settled in 2001, and testimony from the judge, his psychiatrist and his psychologist was sealed.

Edwards wants to unseal that evidence, but federal prosecutors asked Judge Polozola to assume control of the state court case to avoid "irreparable injury to a national interest." Perhaps feeling that his own reputation was the "national interest" at stake, Judge Polozola granted the request only twenty minutes after it was made, ordering the evidence in his own case transferred to federal court and sealed.

The action disturbs experts in legal ethics.