folo

Oh dear, I believe Scott Horton has set the cat amongst the pigeons in Scruggsiana — or, as I should better say, his sources have done so.

Two days ago, I wrote about Scott’s report that Sen. Trent Lott, according to “two senior law enforcement figures in Mississippi,” has “engaged a well-regarded local criminal lawyer to advise him on some questions relating to the Scruggs case.” In a footnote there, Scott added,

1. Last Wednesday, one of the accused, [Tim] Balducci entered a plea of guilty to conspiracy to bribe a judge. Balducci has been representing himself in the process; I would assume that Balducci expects to testify in exchange for a reduced sentence. A law enforcement official I interviewed, who for professional reasons asked to remain anonymous, told me that Scruggs’s junior partner Sidney Backstrom might take the same road as Balducci.

So last evening, as you may have seen, Overlawyered’s Walter Olson ran in here (and into Y’allPolitics too, I see) rather upset about a story in Tupelo’s NEMS Daily Journal that begins,

A widely read blog www.overlawyered.com speculated Wednesday that Oxford attorney Sidney Backstrom may take a cue from New Albany attorney Timothy Balducci, who changed his not-guilty plea to guilty last week and reportedly is cooperating with the government. …

Well, Walter has reason to squawk about this piece of bad reporting, since what he wrote carries an obviously-Horton-skeptical tone:

Harper’s blogger Scott Horton has now published his take, as is his wont heavily dependent on hush-hush (but no doubt wholly trustworthy) confidential sources who float all sorts of theories about scoundrelly doings by the highly placed. He winds up with a theory that would pull Sen. Lott into it (though with no allegation of criminality) by way of the Acker contempt matter, as distinct from either the Balducci/Lackey bribery attempt or, say, the Paul Minor affair. Of Horton’s many anonymously sourced speculations, the one that caught my eye was tucked into a footnote: “A law enforcement official I interviewed, who for professional reasons asked to remain anonymous, told me that Scruggs’s junior partner Sidney Backstrom might take the same road as Balducci.” Now that is news a rumor (more).

Now you tell me how the DJournal’s Patsy R. Brumfield read that and credited Walter with the “speculation”? A mystery indeed, particularly since the person who actually came up with it — Horton’s source, two degrees of separation away — apparently used only the mild word “might” (rather than “is about [or "fixin'"] to …” or “according to what I know, is thinking about … ,” or something otherwise more definite).

But sloppy or no, reporter Brumfield did pry out a big piece of news with her misattributed rumor:

Backstrom’s attorney Frank Trapp of Jackson said it’s absolutely incorrect. "He has stated in open court he is not guilty, and that’s the truth of the matter, " Trapp said firmly Wednesday afternoon.

“What his lawyer is saying,” folo reader NMC believes, is “‘UNITED FRONT.’ Do they have a defense agreement in place? I’d say yes.”

I hope NMC — and maybe others in the room? — get some time to expand on that thought as the day progresses. (In my fairly-brief exposure to criminal appellate practice as a public defender, I don’t recall ever having had a client involved in such an agreement. So all I know to say about them is that they sound fraught with fragility, and I’d powerfully like to know more.)

Well, anyhow, in a briefer-than-usual post this morning, David Rossmiller picks up on Horton’s “Lott’s Lament” too, especially its concluding passage:

Might the prosecutors have asked Trent Lott, one of Washington’s political titans, to resign as part of a deal? A week ago I would have found that very far-fetched, but now I am not so sure.

“Why would prosecutors do this,” Rossmiller wonders.

If Lott did anything wrong, he would be far from the only criminal in the United States Senate. Would it make a noticeable difference to have one less? [excellent point, David, though not so much on point, I'm thinking] However, I have trouble buying these scenarios about Lott being involved in wrongdoing, they just don’t add up for me. And, as reader Ironic pointed out in the comments yesterday, this NPR story plausibly explores Lott’s announced resignation as a precursor to registering as a lobbyist, and why he may not be talking [about] it. In this instance, I’m going to go against my history and give Lott a break, and say I believe him, which is what I’ve said all along. Lott, don’t prove me wrong now!

About that, we shall eventually see. But so much for the alarums, now on to the excursions.

If you were around here last evening, perhaps you helped us monitor FlightAware’s presentation of the dipsy-doodle progress of Air Langston back north from Mississippi’s capital city, Jackson. The twin-jet Raytheon Premier 1 had conveyed someone(s) there at mid-morning (and in my book, if whoever that was failed to visit Sal & Phil’s in Ridgeland for a crawfish po-boy lunch, he-she-or-they wasted a trip. Lord).

The southbound morning leg from Joey Langston’s hometown Booneville (just northeast of Tupelo) to Jackson took 37 minutes, but the return flight — which began a little over two hours after originally scheduled — needed 88 minutes from Jackson to the vicinity of Booneville (finally ending short of home, diverted to Tupelo, and landing there only after the second big wandering go-around). The nearest “weather” showing up on the edge of the radar was in Tennessee and Arkansas, so the loop-de-loop orbitting of first Booneville then Tupelo (at one point even suggesting a break-out run toward Memphis) suggests some problem aboard, mechanical or otherwise. If anyone hears what that was all about, please sing out, won’t you?

But who needed to go to Jackson for what, we’d like to know. Well, on the Rossmiller thread we talked about yesterday (the one with all the P.L. Blake goodies), “MSlawyer” (who also hangs out with us) offered a clue:

ok, I’ll supply another piece of the puzzle. My bet is that the “other case” being investigated is not the Luckey case, but yet another lawsuit by yet another lawyer over asbestos fees back in 95 or so and not settled till 2006. Check out William Roberts Wilson vs Richard Scruggs filed in Hinds Co. Circuit Court.

“Hinds County” means “Jackson.” So: MSlawyer, NMC, or anyone else with Lex-Nex/PACER access and more knowledge of this than most of us have, would Wilson have been active yesterday, and if so, how for whom? If some of our heroes had a long and bad day in court or deposition yesterday, and then had to deal with a flight going crazy as a betsy-bug, they musta got home RILL ready for a bourbon-and-branch.

Oh, and that reminds me: Walter, where were my manners?! Next time you stop in, I’ll offer you a cocktail or Co’Cola, depending on the time. Scott Horton, you too.

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