Prosecutors in the Dallas City Hall public corruption case could hardly wipe the smiles off their faces Monday as they announced to the judge that their case would take only about half as long to try.

The barely veiled reference by prosecutor Marcus Busch was to the conspicuous absence of prominent developers Brian and Cheryl Potashnik, defendants in the case who did not attend the start of jury selection Monday morning.

The Potashniks are at the center of the government's case. They are accused of bribing former Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill and others to advance their low-income housing projects.

No one was willing to test U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn's gag order and confirm that the Potashniks had signed a sealed plea deal. But short of the government suddenly deciding to drop the charges against the pair, there was no other reason for their absence Monday.

"I'm hard-pressed to think of a plausible explanation for them not showing up for trial other than there is an 11th-hour agreement reached," said Paul Coggins, a former top federal prosecutor in Dallas who is now in private practice.

He said that most plea deals require the defendant to cooperate and testify. The Potashniks' testimony could be devastating for the others.

"Usually, when you get pleas like this at this point in the case, the other could start falling like dominoes," Coggins said.

It's particularly troublesome for state Rep. Terri Hodge, D-Dallas, the only sitting public official in the case. She goes on trial later this year on charges that she took a free apartment and carpet from the Potashniks in exchange for her support of their projects.

Her attorney said Monday that he could not comment because of the judge's gag order.

The absence of Brian Potashnik's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, from the defense team is also a blow to the other defendants. Lowell, who made a name for himself representing high-powered Washington politicians and lobbyists, and another attorney from his firm did much of the heavy lifting in analyzing the government's massive cache of evidence.

Even a jury consultant who was working with the Potashniks was nowhere to be found Monday.

"What's happened is a major defendant has fallen out at the last minute, and they are far and away the best-funded, with a massive legal team," Coggins said. For the remaining defendants, "it's like going into the first quarter of a game and hearing that your quarterback and wide receiver won't be suiting up."

Earlier Monday, Hill and his attorney, Ray Jackson, got a tongue lashing from Lynn during a hearing about their potential violations of her gag order.

Both gave interviews last week, with Hill calling on U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to review the FBI and prosecutors' conduct in the case, which Hill and supporters have said is a racial vendetta.

Lynn said she would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Hill and Jackson's conduct and will hold a trial Nov. 2 on the matter.

"The court regards this as a very serious matter," Lynn said. "I won't prejudge whether it is criminal contempt."

Jackson told Lynn he did not think his comments in an interview last week with WFAA-TV (Channel 8) violated the gag order. "My understanding was that it was going to be a personal-relations interview," he said.

But the judge shot back: "The very first question that you answered related to the case."

Hill, too, told the judge that he did not believe he had violated the court order. "Being an attorney, and being fully apprised of what the order meant, my responsibility was to abide by it," he said.

The judge responded: "If I didn't think criminal contempt had occurred, I would not be holding this hearing."

She told Hill that he is prohibited from speaking to the media about anything. "If you do, you will immediately be taken into custody."

Later, the judge also addressed defendant Darren Reagan about his possible violation of her gag order. Reagan is head of the Black State Employees Association of Texas, which prosecutors say was a sham group that represented no employees and was used to intimidate developers into coughing up bribes.

After the gag order was signed, Reagan sent out a news release accusing prosecutor Sarah Saldana and her husband, a local attorney, of participating in a "huge terroristic plot" to harass him.

"Mr. Reagan has made vitriolic comments regarding Ms. Saldana," Lynn said Monday morning, adding that she would defer judgment on whether Reagan had violated her gag order until later. "The court knows of no basis for such allegations."

Just before lunch, court security officers brought 116 potential jurors up to Lynn's 15th-floor courtroom.

As expected, the courtroom was too full to accommodate any observers, leaving the judge, defendants, the lawyers and their staffs to work on selecting a jury. About the same number of different jurors is expected to report to the courthouse this morning.

The case: Former Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill, his appointee to the city Plan Commission, D'Angelo Lee, and a web of associates are accused of funneling bribes from low-income housing developers in exchange for political support for their projects.

High points: Developers Brian and Cheryl Potashnik did not show up for court Monday, fueling speculation that they're cooperating with the government and will probably testify against the others in exchange for lighter sentences.

Also Monday, the judge delayed deciding whether Hill and his attorney and another defendant, Darren Reagan, violated her gag order by giving interviews and making allegations of impropriety against the prosecutors.

What's next: About 100 additional potential jurors are expected to report to the Dallas federal courthouse today as attorneys and the judge continue the hunt for an unbiased panel. The judge hopes to swear in a dozen jurors, plus four alternates, sometime this week.