Jefferson bribe case opens in New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Jurors in the bribery trial of Mose Jefferson may carry a bias because he is the brother of a convicted former Louisiana congressman, defense lawyers said.

Mose Jefferson went on trial Monday in New Orleans on charges he bribed a former Orleans Parish School Board president. Last week, his brother, former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., was convicted of public corruption in an unrelated case in Virginia.

U.S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon denied requests from Mose Jefferson's lawyers to delay or move his trial because of the publicity surrounding William Jefferson's conviction, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported Monday.

Mose Jefferson's case originated from an April 2008 indictment in which he was accused of paying former School Board President Ellenese Brooks-Simms $140,000 in exchange for her support for an algebra curriculum he was selling.

Brooks-Simms has pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from Mose Jefferson, who has denied any wrongdoing.