5 p.m. update: Court proceedings have finished for the day after Federal Judge Dee Drell dismissed the jury before James “Jim” Whittington was cross-examined by Sheriff Randy Maxwell’s attorney.
The trial will resume at 9 a.m. tomorrow and is expected to finish by the end of the day.

4:45 p.m. update: Jim Whittington is on the stand. He maintains his innocence in relation to the original charges, and said the incident has changed his life.

“I can’t even go back home without something like this happening,” Whittington said.

Testimony is now expected to continue past 5 p.m.

Afternoon update: Judge Kathy Johnson and Judge Leo Boothe were called to testify after lunch. Testimony will continue until 5 p.m. today.

Noon update: District Attorney Brad Burget refuted statements from a previous witness and clarified Sheriff Randy Maxwell’s involvement in the prosecution of James “Jim” Whittington’s 2003 arrest during his testimony Tuesday morning.

Burget took the stand and almost immediately clarified that he, not former Assistant District Attorney Ronnie McMillin, received Whittington’s case first.

Burget claimed that while a District A judge, which McMillin represented at the time, originally heard the magistrate hearing, the case was then handed to District B by allotment of the clerk of court’s office.

On Monday, McMillin testified saying that he was originally assigned to prosecute Whittington, but was shortly dismissed from the case after it was handed to Burget.

McMillin also testified that after the Whittington case was transferred to Burget, Maxwell would frequently visit the district attorney’s office for closed-door conversations.

“After the matter was transferred to Brad Burget … (Maxwell) was in the office almost daily,” McMillin said during his testimony Monday. “(Maxwell) would come in, not say anything to anyone and go into Brad Burget’s office and slam the door.”

But Burget quickly disagreed with McMillin’s statements.

“I don’t recall sheriff Maxwell ever coming into my office, closing my door and having conversations with me, let alone about the Jim Whittington case,” Burget testified on Tuesday. “I had one meeting with Maxwell in his vehicle on the way to lunch.

“He was curious as to why I wasn’t trying the case. I told him I wasn’t sure about the case. He said I think it’s a felony; I said I think it’s a misdemeanor, sheriff, and that was the end of it.”

The only other witness called so far this morning was former Assistant District Attorney Andy Magoun.

Magoun’s answered questions that focused around the 2003 election for sheriff — in which Whittington and Glen Lipsey were candidates.

Through several questions regarding the campaign, Mitchell Evans, Whittington’s attorney, revealed that Magoun supported Lipsey during the sheriff’s race, which he suggested caused some friction in the district attorney’s office.

“I had a discussion with Maxwell and told him I wasn’t supporting anyone publicly,” Magoun said. “Short of that discussion, Glen was my friend, and I support my friends.

“The only other way (Maxwell) would know who I supported would be through friends or around town.”

Whittington, a former candidate for sheriff, has filed suit against Maxwell, claiming he was maliciously prosecuted after the election.

Court proceedings will resume at 1:30 p.m. and are expected to go until Wednesday in the Western District Court of Louisiana in Alexandria.

Federal Judge Dee Drell is hearing the case.