Insurance Law

Update on State Farm v. Hood hearing

By David Rossmiller

These are the latest developments from the State Farm v. Hood hearing, on whether State Farm's injunction against Hood's criminal investigation should continue, as of 11:30 a.m. Pacific Time, 1:30 p.m. Central Time. 

Testimony this morning touched on:

• the scope of Hood's investigative subpoenas and post-agreement subpoenas;
• the Rigsby sisters' subsequent data dump in July and whether they could be considered agents of the Attorney General;
• issues relating to National Flood Insurance Katrina claims by homeowners;
• the famed "confidential informant" letter from Hood to Alice Martin, U.S. Attorney for Northern Alabama, where Hood told Martin that Dickie Scruggs shouldn't be prosecuted for alleged criminal contempt, as desired by federal Judge Acker, because Scruggs was his confidential informant in Hood's investigation of insurers' Katrina claims handling;
• testimony about whether Scruggs himself is a whistleblower, insofar as state law appears to appy to whistleblowers against government agencies, not to whistleblowing in general;
• Kerri Rigsby and other witnesses were not in court while not testifying, but if Hood would have showed up this morning he would have been allowed as an officer of the court. However, Hood did not show up before lunch, apparently to the surprise of his counsel.  Hood is due to testify after the lunch break;
• No in camera discussions took place before lunch, everything was in open court.

Full post as published by Insurance Coverage Law Blog on February 06, 2008 (boomark / email).