Ex-Richardson mayor and developer husband on trial again for bribery after first was thrown out

[TexasTowelie]

Laura and Mark Jordan were found guilty of bribery by a federal jury in 2019 over his gifts to her, including sex. But a court security officer’s remark resulted in a new trial.


It was a novel approach for a political bribery case.

Prosecutors told jurors that one of the benefits a developer gave a former Richardson mayor in exchange for votes was sex.

Jurors agreed with the government and convicted the ex-mayor, Laura Jordan, and her lover-turned-husband, Mark Jordan, on nearly all counts after just a day and a half of deliberation. Nevertheless, the salacious details of their illicit romance and alleged corrupt plotting will once again be chronicled inside a Sherman courtroom.

That’s because of a court security officer’s careless remark to a distraught and undecided juror hours before the verdict. It resulted in the judge throwing out the 2019 conviction and ordering a new trial. The juror had been a holdout, and the defense argued she was improperly swayed by the officer.

U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant agreed and granted the defense motion for a new trial, a decision later upheld by the Fifth Circuit following an appeal by the government. Opening statements in the retrial of the Jordans, who married during the controversy, are scheduled to begin Tuesday.

Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2021/07/02/ex-richardson-mayor-and-developer-husband-on-trial-again-for-bribery-after-first-was-thrown-out/