August 18, 2005
Wrinkled Robe investigation continues...
I'm really surprised that the US Attorney's office is still generating leads in the 24th Judicial District investigation:
Feds subpoena campaign records
Federal investigators have issued grand jury subpoenas to Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard and 24th District Judge Kernan "Skip" Hand for records of political donations to Hand's campaigns from Bail Bonds Unlimited, Hand's attorney and Broussard said Wednesday.
The subpoenas offer the first public indication since the conviction seven weeks ago of Judge Alan Green that authorities are pushing ahead with their Operation Wrinkled Robe investigation of Jefferson Parish courthouse corruption.
Issuing subpoenas to a sitting judge, the parish president, and a well-known lawyer allows Da Paper to put their photos on page one, but there doesn't seem to be much substance to these charges. Hand is a smart politician. He was a state representative for a decade prior to being elected to the bench, and he's been a judge for over a decade. Broussard's position as "chairman" of Hand's campaign committee is pretty much an honorary one. The two trace their roots back to Kenner politics in the 1980s. David Sherman, the lawyer, is Hand's campaign treasurer. His firm is Chehardy, Sherman, Ellis, Breslin, Murray, Recile, & Griffith L.L.P. That's "Chehardy" as in Lawrence E. Chehardy, the parish assessor. Hand's attorney, Michael Ellis, is also a partner.
I'd be very surprised to learn that these guys left openings that Letten and Company could exploit.