Miscellaneous

Scruggs scandal update: Information in Langston plea

By Walter Olson, Ted Frank, and David Nieporent

Folo has posted (PDF) the information on which Joseph (Joey) Langston entered a guilty plea. A sample:

5. Between on or about July of 2006 and July of 2007, JOSEPH C. LANGSTON, Steven A. Patterson and the close personal friend of Robert "Bobby" DeLaughter split $3,000,000, representing the savings to Scruggs as a result of rulings in favor of Scruggs by Judge DeLaughter resulting in a settlement of the case.

A couple of points:

* The identity of the unnamed "close personal friend" of Judge DeLaughter was not revealed in the information, but it is widely assumed that that friend is a reasonably prominent former prosecutor in the state and that that figure may be cooperating with the feds. Since Patterson is also reported to be cooperating with the feds, and presumably will be asked to tell what he knows about this episode as well as the original Judge Lackey bribery attempt, that would make three principals in the DeLaughter/Wilson affair prepared to cooperate with prosecutors. The splitting of $3 million from Scruggs would also presumably leave the sort of paper trail that could not easily be disguised as lunch expense reimbursements and the like.

* The alleged quid pro quo that was to be offered to Judge DeLaughter -- who has at all times firmly denied improper influence -- is not money, but consideration for promotion to the federal bench. Judge DeLaughter was in fact considered for a recommendation to such appointment by the office of Scruggs's brother-in-law, Sen. Trent Lott, but was not in the event appointed. It can be anticipated that the circumstances of that non-appointment -- his brush with appointment, as it were -- will come under close scrutiny.

Earlier here.

P.S. YallPolitics has a PDF link of the Patterson plea and David Rossmiller has a lengthy array of documents from PACER.

Full post as published by Overlawyered on January 14, 2008 (boomark / email).