Legal News

Deal Talks for Indicted Judge With Ties to Scruggs?

By Jennifer Forsyth

Judge Bobby DeLaughter is one of those guys, like power lobbyist and convicted felon Jack Abramoff, who is of national interest not in his own right, but because of who he has pow-wowed with. Why else would we care about, or frankly even know about, a circuit judge in the Mississippi county of Hinds, save for his pending charges associated with taking a bribe from multibillionaire and former plaintiffs lawyer extraordinaire, Dickie Scruggs?

The judge handling the case, U.S. District Judge Glen Davidson, has set the trial on charges of honest-services mail fraud, conspiracy in a bribery scheme and obstruction of justice for Aug. 17 in Oxford. DeLaughter has repeatedly proclaimed his innocence of all charges.

The Clarion-Ledger reports today in this story that federal prosecutors and attorneys have begun to discuss what a possible deal might involve, although it also cautions that that doesn’t mean DeLaughter’s attorneys will take a deal. Experts told the paper that such deal talks are not at all surprising, given that several potential witnesses in the case are cooperating with the government.

Scruggs, along with another former lawyer, Joey Langston, have pleaded guilty to scheming to corruptly influence DeLaughter after he was the presiding judge in a dispute over legal fees with yet another lawyer. (For previous LB coverage, click here and here.) Included among the potential witnesses in DeLaughter’s trial, reports the paper, is Ed Peters, the former Hinds County District Attorney who was DeLaughter’s former boss and mentor. Documents in the case say that Peters was paid $1 million in exchange for trying to influence DeLaughter in the Scruggs matter.

In addition to those who have pleaded guilty, DeLaughter’s former boss and mentor, longtime Hinds County District Attorney Ed Peters, is expected to testify against DeLaughter. The paper reports Peters has been given immunity for exchange for his early cooperation, though it points out this juicy tidbit: That under certain scenarios, if Peters’s immunity is limited, DeLaughter could strike his own deal and turn the tables against his former boss.

Law Blog YouTube Video of the Day:Given all the allegations of judicial bribery being thrown around, we at the LB can do nothing but “scrugg” our shoulders and declare that it must be a Mean Old World.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on June 11, 2009 (boomark / email).