“I conducted my own business, but that’s not to say (Maxwell) didn’t try to tell me what to do,” McMillin said.

Former Concordia deputy sheriff Jim Boyd, who took the original statement from Berry, testified that Maxwell ordered him to relay a message to 2003 sheriff’s candidate Lipsey demanding Lipsey withdraw from the campaign.

“I went to sheriff Maxwell’s house and first we talked about Jim Whittington. He said he would be dealt with and wouldn’t get 500 votes from the parish,” Boyd said in response to questioning from Evans. “Then he told me to go to Glenn’s house and let him know that if he pulled out of the race he could go back to work at the state troopers’ office.

“Or, if not, that he better have enough cows on his farm, because he would never wear another badge in his life.”

During cross-examination, Richardson asked a series of questions to clarify that the alleged incident Maxwell asked of Boyd was not the reason he was terminated from the sheriff’s office, but was due to Boyd “tipping off” his cousin about a drug bust the narcotics task force was executing.

“I just told him to stay away from this one guy who I knew was up to no good,” Boyd said. “I called my cousin on the night that happened and told him, ‘Aren’t you glad you’re not there?’

“But it turns out he was there.”

Court proceedings resume today at 9:30 a.m. and are expected to last until Wednesday. During Monday’s morning court session, jury selection dwindled a large potential pool of candidates from various parishes across the state to an eight-person jury.

The two-man, six-woman jury was seated shortly before noon Monday. There are two blacks and six whites on the jury.

Potential witnesses in the case for both the plaintiff and defendant include Burget, Boothe, Judge Kathy Johnson, officer Jimmy Darden and Concordia Sentinel reporter Joey Martin.