District Attorney Jason Williams’ tax fraud trial is scheduled to get underway in late January.
Meanwhile, a federal judge is already setting the ground rules for the trial.
On Friday, Judge Martin Feldman needed to caution the prosecution team about government over reach and prejudicing the jury with evidence used to show the jury.
Judge Feldman say he would not allow prosecutors to refer to Williams’ St. Charles Avenue home as a ‘mansion’.
He would also keep prosecutors from referring to Williams’ cars, citing that status flags can be used to prejudice a jury to the defendant.
In all jurors from 13 area parishes will be selected to sit on the federal case when it gets underway on January 24th.
Quote by the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate, Feldman has stated:
“I’m just concerned with someone from I don’t know where – Boutte – who lives in a trailer, being on the jury and hearing, ‘Oh, they’ve got a mansion on…’ Can’t you prove excessive lifestyle without going into class issues? … Without going into issues that implicate jealousy: ‘They have to have been cheating if they can afford to live on St. Charles.’”
The paper reports both sides are looking present or bar a lot of evidence from the trial.
Williams and his law partner Nicole Burdett face 11 counts of conspiring to inflate expenses related to Williams law practice over five years to reduce his tax liability.
Five counts in particular allege both defendants failed to report large sums of cash.