This story is a partnership between the Nashville Banner and the Nashville Scene. The Nashville Banner is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization focused on civic news. Visit nashvillebanner.com for more information.
Day one of the long-anticipated trial of Glen Casada and Cade Cothren was largely uneventful.
The biggest revelation was that Casada had been offered a plea deal, which he confirmed to Judge Eli Richardson that he had rejected. Following some housekeeping items, the media and public were moved out of the courtroom to an overflow room for the jury-selection process. Despite the poor audio quality, one moment stood out loud and clear.
“I don’t trust the media, I don’t trust politicians, and I don’t trust the federal government,” one member of the jury pool said when asked if he had any prior knowledge of the case.
Pre-trial instructions at the Fred Thompson Federal Building on Tuesday.
Potential jurors in the pool had varying degrees of knowledge about the case. The majority had never heard of the situation or the individuals involved, but nearly a dozen had become aware of it through the media.
Casada and Cothren face 20 counts of money laundering, bribery, wire fraud and theft related to the operations of a mailer company, Phoenix Solutions. The company was allegedly established after Cothren’s departure from his role on the speaker’s staff as a way to continue paying him.
One of the potential jurors was the wife of Michael Patrick Leahy, the editor and owner of the conservative website the Tennessee Star. She said that while she was unsure whether her husband had reported on the case — he had — she thought some of the names involved sounded familiar. Ed Yarbrough, Casada’s attorney, informed Richardson that he and Leahy had been on opposite sides of an open-records lawsuit over documents related to the Covenant School shooting, but it was unclear if Leahy’s wife had been aware of that.
Cade Cothren, confidential informants and the ongoing scandal surrounding ousted state House Speaker Glen Casada
Other questions for the potential jurors ranged from the basics of how criminal court proceedings work to whether jurors had any experience being paid as subcontractors. The final question from Cynthia Sherwood, an attorney representing Cothren, drew some laughter when she asked a handful of jurors what bumper stickers they have on their cars.
“I have none,” one juror responded. “I think they’re trashy.”
Of the 40 potential jurors, 18 — including Leahy — were sent home, as approved by Richardson. Twenty-two remain to be further considered, and Richardson said another group of 35 potential jurors is ready if needed.
Jury selection will continue on Wednesday with opening arguments set to follow.
This article first appeared on Nashville Banner and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
