NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – It’s Day 2 of Walter Reed’s trial. The former St. Tammany and Washington parishes District Attorney faces multiple corruption charges. WGNO spoke with his lawyer before Tuesday’s court proceedings:
“We start with the evidence today. Hopefully, we stated our side of the case, and now we’re going to present it. Are you feeling confident then? Oh, yes. Oh, yes,” said Rick Simmons.
Last year, a federal grand jury handed down an 18-count indictment against Reed and his son, Steven, claiming Reed used campaign donations to pay for personal expenses.
On Tuesday, eight witnesses took the stand. Most of them bank workers. The prosecution asked them to confirm that their account holders received checks from Walter Reed. One check written to the “First Pentecostal Church”, was for nearly $5,000. The memo line read “Dinner for Preachers”. The other checks were also for thousands of dollars.
The prosecution also called up a member of the Louisiana Board of Ethics to testify. She told prosecutors it is illegal to use campaign funds for personal use or to reimburse family members. Lists of campaign spending were shown to the jury. Restaurants, flower shops and catering companies received thousands of dollars for what was listed as “promotional” or “fundraising” events.
One report showed the “Faith Tabernacle Church” receiving $25,000 and a catering company getting more than $20,000.
Another report showed his son’s company, GLOOP-Inc., receiving nearly $14,000 for a video project. But Reed didn’t specifically put down his son’s name on the report as a recipient. The prosecution also showed the jury three other payments to his son’s company, totaling nearly $10,000.
This case is expected to take roughly 10 days.
