WIRETAP EVIDENCE OK'D IN BODENHEIMER CASE

Preserving some of the most dramatic evidence in the Jefferson Parish
Courthouse corruption case, a federal judge Wednesday refused to strike
months of secret wiretap recordings that prosecutors are using against
former state Judge Ronald Bodenheimer and others.

U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan denied a motion by Bodenheimer to
suppress the wiretaps, in a move that observers said shattered the former
judge's best hopes of wrecking a drug conspiracy case against him and
fueled speculation that he may try to reach a plea agreement with the
government just weeks shy of his April 14 trial.

"There are only two options left for Mr. Bodenheimer: Prepare for trial, or
renew negotiations for a plea agreement with the government," said criminal
defense attorney Vinny Mosca.

Berrigan reached her decision after a one-hour hearing Wednesday that was
closed to the public. Bodenheimer's attorney, Eddie Castaing, and Assistant
U.S. Attorney Mike Magner said they could not discuss the session because
of a gag order imposed by Berrigan.

Still, Castaing seemed upbeat as he and the former judge left the federal
courthouse.

"We think it went real well, but we can't discuss the outcome," Castaing said.

He could not be reached after Berrigan's decision became public Wednesday
afternoon.

The ruling is likely to have a strong impact beyond Bodenheimer's drug
case, experts said, safeguarding the government use of the wiretaps in
other elements of the 31/2-year-old federal investigation into corruption
at the Gretna courthouse.

"This was a big win for the government," Mosca said.

Prosecutors have cited part of the wiretap recordings to accuse Bodenheimer
of conspiring with two other men to fix restaurateur Al Copeland's
child-custody case in hopes of receiving a contract to supply shrimp to
Copeland's restaurants.

Investigators also have accumulated extensive recordings from conversations
of bail bondsman Louis Marcotte III and his business associates. Both
prosecutors and Marcotte's attorney have suggested the government is trying
to build a racketeering case against Marcotte in an effort to charge him
with running a criminal enterprise that ensured his monopoly and made him
millions.

In an apparent pre-emptive strike against such a possible indictment,
attorneys for Marcotte and his sister, Lori, tried to intervene in support
of Bodenheimer's motion to suppress, even though their clients have not
been charged. Berrigan's court publicly confirmed Wednesday that their
motions were denied.

Marcotte's attorney, Arthur "Buddy" Lemann, even tried unsuccessfully to
enter Wednesday's hearing. He suggested he would still challenge the
wiretaps if Marcotte is indicted.

"I'm not bound by (Berrigan's) decision," Lemann said.

For now, though, Berrigan's ruling is likely to have the harshest impact on
Bodenheimer's defense, former federal prosecutor Shaun Clarke said, noting
that the decision will allow the government to play tapes of the wiretaps
to the jury in next month's trial.

"From what we know is in those wiretaps, this is a potentially lethal blow
to Bodenheimer's defense," Clarke said.

According to federal records, the tapes include telephone conversations
Bodenheimer had with at least two individuals, including Slidell mechanic
Curley Chewning, in late 2001 and early 2002, in which they talked about
planting illegal drugs on a critic of his Venetian Isles marina and FBI
informant.

"You know this boy, the sad part about it is, he ain't got a shot. He ain't
got a chance, you know. He ain't gonna know what hit him," Bodenheimer is
quoted in federal documents as saying about the marina critic.

The government alleges that Chewning planted three pills of the painkiller
OxyContin in the informant's truck in April 2002. Bodenheimer and Chewning
were arrested June 5 and indicted with drug conspiracy charges July 17.
Chewning pleaded guilty the same day and agreed to testify against
Bodenheimer, who has pleaded innocent and remains under house arrest.

Bodenheimer, who could get a maximum 32 years in prison on the drug
charges, turned down a plea agreement with prosecutors last summer that
called for a maximum 30 months in prison in exchange for his cooperation in
the investigation.

Observers have repeatedly said that a new plea agreement is always a
possibility, though U.S. Attorney Jim Letten would not say Wednesday
whether the government would be interested in renewing plea negotiations
with the former judge.

"I can't tell you what our attitude is" on plea negotiations, Letten said.
"I can tell you that we're ready to go to trial."

In the meantime, experts said Bodenheimer is unlikely to appeal Wednesday's
decision. With rare exceptions, defendants in federal cases cannot appeal
when a motion to suppress is denied until after a trial has taken place,
Clarke said. Bodenheimer would likely appeal Wednesday's ruling if a trial
takes place and he's found guilty, Clarke said.

In his motion to suppress, filed under court-ordered seal, Castaing argued
that the government distorted and omitted facts and used uncorroborated
testimony from unreliable witnesses to obtain authorization to tap
Bodenheimer's phones, according to sources who have seen the document. In a
sealed filing, prosecutors countered that even if they had not one piece of
evidence that alone proved Bodenheimer's involvement in any illegal
activity, the totality of the testimony and facts presented in FBI
affidavits warranted the authorization of the wiretap, sources said.

Berrigan, a Clinton appointee, announced her decision with just a short
entry on the court record and declined requests to explain why Wednesday's
hearing was closed to the public.

Lemann attacked the secretiveness of the proceeding.

"The government secretly decided to intervene in my client's private
conversations. And today, in a secret proceeding, it decided that was OK,"
Lemann said. "It makes you wonder whether we are in New Orleans or Baghdad."