Legal News

Fen-Phen Lawyer Trial Delayed After Defendant is Hospitalized

By Dan Slater

When opening arguments began two weeks ago in the Fen-Phen lawyer case, we noted that the lawyer for Melbourne Mills Jr. — one of three lawyers on trial for bilking clients out of settlement funds — raised an intoxication defense. Mills’s lawyer, Jim Shuffett, told the jury that Mills, 77, was hospitalized for an “alcoholic seizure” a month after the case was settled, and was therefore too drunk to be responsible.

For those who found that claim dubious, consider this piece of news, reported a few hours ago on the Courier-Journal Web site: District Judge William Bertelsman has postponed the trial until Friday because Mills, 77, was hospitalized early this morning. According to the report, Mills was taken from from Boone County Jail to a hospital near Covington, Kentucky, after he developed swelling in his ankles. He was to be examined by a cardiologist and held for observation.

The trial was set to open a new phase this morning, after the conclusion of three days on the stand from former Boone Circuit Judge Joseph “Jay” Bamberger, who testified he was “embarrassed” by his own handling of the underlying Fen-Phen case.

Shirley Cunningham (pictured, left), Mills (center) and William Gallion (right) are on trial in federal court for allegedly bilking their clients out of $65 million of a $200 settlement over alleged injuries caused by the diet drug Phen-Fen. They’re charged with one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, for which they could be sentenced to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on May 28, 2008 (boomark / email).