Judge Mills is very angry. How do I know this? Read this order:
This cause comes before the court on State Farm’s motion for “clarification” of its February 1, 2008 order denying Richard Scrugg’s motion to quash the subpoena for his deposition. The court held a conference with counsel for Scruggs and State Farm today, during which it expressed its displeasure regarding their inability to work out the details of this deposition without intervention of this court. Given that such intervention is required, however, the court deems it necessary to enter this order setting forth in writing the instructions which it verbally gave to counsel today.
In its February 1 order, the court directed that “Scruggs submit to deposition under seal by State Farm at some point prior to 5 p.m. on Monday, February 4, 2008.” It was the court’s intent, as should have been clear to all parties, that Scruggs’s deposition be completed by this time. However, Scruggs refused to make himself available for deposition prior to 3 p.m. on Monday, and he appears to have used the 5 p.m. deadline for tactical purposes, to limit the duration and scope of State Farm’s deposition. This is clearly unaccaptable, and the court will not tolerate any further attempts to violate its February 1 order.
In the light of the foregoing, it is ordered that:
1. Scruggs deposition is to begin immediately and shall continue until its natural completion.
2. In light of the delays caused by Scruggs, the deadline for the completion of his deposition is extended until 5 p.m. Tuesday, February 5, 2008.
3. Any future non-compliance with this court’s order relating to Scruggs’s deposition will be dealt with as contempt.
GO JUDGE!!!!!!
Does Keker act up and inflame Judge Mills even further? Anyone taking bets?
I’d say that the best thing for Scruggs is that Keker keep his mouth shut and stay out of the picture.
I’m not sure if “glad” is the right word, but at least after this fiasco, his client should be glad he’ll be facing Judge Biggers instead of Judge Mills in the future.
He may not get another crack at Judge Mills, Jane, but I’m guessing Judge Biggers will see the order.
Keker…welcome to Mississippi!
After reading the motion (and before I’d read the order) I was wondering if Dickie would be in jail by dusk.
Four (4) star man Stingy,Selfish,Spoiled and Sorry!
The stalling tactics were about as smart as running up and kicking a charging bear in the shin. You just don’t do that if you have good sense. I am starting to believe these so called high fallutin’ lawyers don’t have good sense….lol…….they certainly seem to be underestimating Judge Mills.
Seems to me that the best move Dickie could make would be fire Keker and hire a non-eedjit. Of course, being an eedjit himself, he probably won’t think of that . . .
If this was chess Keker’s move would be called “FOOLS MATE”.
OUCH! That stings.
All these shenanigans appear to me as laying the foundation for another delay in the bribery trial, i.e. Keker acting up so Scruggs can fire him at the last minute because of ineffectiveness, etc.
Ouch!! I’m not a lawyer, but I can tell that Judge Mills has just about had enough of these games from Scruggs et al.
Maybe he should….
hire Ken Coghlan!
Oh, wait!
An eedjit? There’s a word I haven’t heard in a while. Not since Yosemite Sam, anyway. Lotus, why don’t you just call him a darn-eared galloot?
Lotus…Have not heard the word eedgit used since childhood when a row ensued amongst siblings..
All that asinine posturing is well and good but NOT when you know a judge will be reading it two days later. Did they forget about that part?
Lawzee, Alan and mag, we need Bilbo’s word-hoard to do these peckerwoods justice!
yah, but I didn’t see “dumb @ss” on there.
It’s Keker who is making the moves, but I think one and all should consider the question of who is making the decisions. We have here a very strong-willed client with a history of changing lawyers and forcing cases to be done “his” way, and, I’m sure, an equally strong willed defense attorney.
Who’s making the calls? I’m not sure.
There is the fact that the letter from Keker was clearly his own product, but we have no idea how the decision to stall was made, and, given what Judge Mills ruled, I think we can assume there was a decision made to stall. I’ll put it that way: He wrote almost exactly what I thought.
Another complicating factor is the lack of a real local counsel. They have an associate (I think first year!) who Scruggs had hired, meaning someone who has no prior criminal law experience (well, none representing clients, but you know what I mean) and no meaningful decisions before these judges. He’s not going to meaningfully contribute in deciding on tactics.
Scruggs co-council in the whistleblower and RICO cases should now file motions in MS federal courts to compel depositions of everyone at State Farm from Lecky King to Ed Rust.
Me in Scruggs shoes had much rather had a well seasoned , down home , seasoned trial attorney who everyone respected had dignity to spare, tip the hat kind of guy who used his testosrone up at home…than have a bunch of gun slingers from the west coast..
And Keker that goes for your damn cat too.
Maybe I’m missing something here but aren’t we getting a bit worked up over something that’s going to come to nothing? Scruggs has to give the depo; but they can’t make him actually testify; he/his attorney was angling to limit the depo; the judge said no (strongly); so now he gives the depo. Which will just be a series of refusals to testify. I understand about the possible negative inference but from an entertainment standpoint this is just a little more interesting than watching grass grow.
Guess if Scruggs is convicted there’ll be folks wanting to watch him serve his sentence, or at least hoping to get e-mail updates regarding every aspect of his incarceration? “Scruggs walked around the prison grounds 4 times today in a departure from his normal habit of 5 times.”
I’d prefer to save my free time for something else, at least until something more substantive comes along. How about that fluff piece on Joey Langston from the NEMDJ – is it online yet?
Become a saint as stated here by Patsy R. Brumfield
I don’t think so. Judges start out fair and impartialed, but lawyers like Keker make the staying impartial part get harder and harder from what I have seen.
I never felt like I did better in court after I had the judge so mad he was ready to punch me out.
I’m with you dd511dd. None of this could mean squat if Judge Bramlette rules that Hood can proceed against SF, right? The depo will be under seal, Scruggs doesn’t have to appear for the hearing, Bramlette probably doesn’t know or care what is going on over in Mills’s court? Once the depo has occurred Mills is out of it and probably very glad to be as well. Although, it was fun watching the pissing contest between the lawyers.
Here’s what I think it likely means:
1) The interrelations between lawyers and court are critical parts of this story. The way Dickie Scruggs deploys lawyers and does cases largely is the story, and it has enormous implications. And I think making a serious of decisions almost calculated to anger the local federal bench is a very stupid move, and very interesting.
2) There’s another story, about State Farm v. Hood, where I think this is a minor blip. I do not expect Judge Bramlette to want to make this deposition a part of his ruling, whichever way he rules. So it’s going to be a piece of history in that case. If I had to bet, I’d bet that Bramlette unseals the deposition, but I would not bet very much.
3) I think a federal injunction against a state court criminal proceeding has to be a long shot, although this one is about as good a long shot as it could be. We also know that Judge Bramlette has already found probability of success in giving the TRO, which means that Hood’s lawyer better be thinking of new reasons or arguments for this hearing.
4) Why do you think Bramlette doesn’t know or care? I’d bet a fair amount to the contrary– he needs to know, for one thing– Judge’s are pretty cautious of each other’s perogatives, and so I think he’d make it his business to read both of Mills’s orders.
5) I’m not sure whether dd511dd and you are saying in part that you find this particular topic boring. Really? Then why read a blog that is focused on the Scruggs cases?
I suspect Bramlette already knows how he intends to rule and none of this will change a thing.
What do we know about Bramlette?
I looked for something, anything, to figure out his leanings and found an interesting case back in the early 90s.
A federal grand jury indicted George Dale and two Blue Cross Blue Shield executives.
Dale was accused of ending an investigation of the Blues in exchange for a large amount of illegal campaign contributions – illegal because many BCBS employees contributed bundled contributions and were reimbursed by the (non-profit) company. Dale’s #2 guy also took a job at BCBS for double his state pay around that time.
Anyway, one of the BCBS guys pleaded ‘no contest’ and agreed to cooperate, but apparently there were some problems with the indictments. The US Attorney had to dismiss the indictments against Dale but continued his investigation to try to figure out exactly which laws might have been violated. Bramlette allowed the BCBS guy to withdraw his plea, against the wishes of the US Attorney, and within a few months the whole thing was called off.
I know nothing that would suggest that Judge Bramlette’s decision was unwarranted, but it does give him a little history with some of the side issues in this case.
No, no, not boring. I am intrigued!!! And I thank you and lotus for this blog. I love it. I love all of it. And I appreciate your perspective. That’s why I posted my comment — too enlist more food for thought. And I agree, that was stoopid for Scruggs’s lawyers to act that way. And it is always stoopid to piss off a judge, I presume. I was just thinking that since the main matter is before Judge Bramlette, they weren’t too worried about pissing off Mills, but I guess that remains to be seen, if Mills has to rule on Scruggs’s jurisdiction again. But by Wednesday the weather is going to be quite different, so to speak. Especially, if they keep up their shennanigans, we’ll be burning rubber on teh internets.
I was just surmising about whether Bramlette cares or not. He might, but then again, are Scruggs’s lawyers going to be at the hearing anyway? It doesn’t reflect on Hood or SF much does it? That’s all. Forgive me if I sounded bla -zay about it all. I am not. I come by here every few minutes to read up. Oh did I say, this is a great site?
I’ve read so much today that I just found the first clean spot I could to post my thanks to Lotus, NMC, and everyone who contributed – and a special thanks to Jane for the time and effort that went into the telling the most incredible story never told until now.
I also enjoy the site and after a conversation I had over the weekend it appears so does alot of others that use this as an information site but will not comment due to being friends with alot of the names mentioned here. It seems that there are a lot of eyes waiting to see what is said next on the site. Got ‘em stirring, go going!!
opps, good going!!
I didn’t write up the Shelton story – those honors go to Lotus herself. I just do a little research when requested.
Yep, there might be client control issues for Keker because he is always going to have Scruggs second-guessing him. But, I still think the pissing contest was by design. There’s some reason not apparent to us.
Researcher, Judge Bramlette will decide whatever issues are before him based on the arguments of the parties, the record, and the law. He is a very honorable man and a good judge. Whatever personal leanings he may have will not affect his decision. That’s my opinion, anyway.
Well, there ya go, I put on a straight face one time, and my pal nowdy doesn’t even recognize me.
Eh.
Anyhoo, to belle and stormy (and alla stormy’s friends) and irate and Jane and Keith Shelton and Donna Ladd and jes’ ever’body, Sa- LUD!
BOY, y’all need all the friends you can get, what with some of the judges you got (and then there’re your local reporterzzzzz . . . ).
Your exactly right lotus, but don’t forget the attorneys etc in the mix.
local jails and maybe even employment lines. ha!!
Oh well, Stormy, they go without sayin’.
Query. How did this come to the forefront and are the Feds involved in this in any way?
The Shelton ordeal that is.
irate, (a) a li’l boidie tol’ me, and (b) nope.
What happened to dd511 anyway,did we run him off? I’ve never seen that name post before? Laps, they play golf in the Fed system don’t they?
Scruggs totally pulled a Britney.
ouch, BK. That was a good one!!
707 and welcome, Buttahknife — now THERE’s an entrance!
lotus, I’ll put my straight face on, too, and offer my apology for not recognizing you in your straight face – it was a wonderful piece of writing and I’m as grateful to you for the finished product as you must be for all those who pitched in on the research…
…and to NMC for getting your back.
You attract any more folks who make an entrance like Buttahknife and we’ll never be able to keep a straight face again.
Re whether Scruggs has some design in pissing off Mills, I don’t think he does. He just gets way too cutesy in trying to interpret orders (trying to start at 3:00 today when it was clear Judge Mills obviously meant conclude by 5 today). His cutesy tendency got him indicted by Acker.
For those who are wondering– SOMETHING is going on in the Scruggs office on the Square in Oxford— I hear reports that the conference room lights are on and folks are still there after 8. Someone is burning that midnight oil.
I think Scruggs has this power-ego thing going. He always wants to show that he has the power to control everything, and especially every one. With this deposition, it was as if he said, “I may have to be deposed, but I’ll show State Farm that I will control the situation.”
And I actually think that Scruggs thought that Judge Mills would find his devious tactic amusing. That’s how out-of-touch with reality Scruggs actually is.
I’ve heard of several “pushing the ethical and professional envelope” tactics Scruggs has used in the court room that Scruggs thought were amusing, and apparently thought the judge would find them amusing also. The judges I’ve been told about did NOT find Scruggs or his tactics amusing.
I think Scruggs has gotten away with this behavior for so long that, as Silas stated above, Scruggs does think he’s cute.
Researcher, just curious. Who was the US Attorney in the early 90′s George Dale-BCBS case?
nomiss has this pretty much cold in my opinion.
nomiss, i think the us attorney for the southern district then was George Phillips.
i left to go to the grocery store yesterday before the superbowl, watched the game and just this afternoon come back to all this. This Place is Amazing. But I’ll never find the thread I was on when I left!
My sources on the square in Oxford say:
so– sometime between about 8:15 CST and 8:45 CST, whatever was going on in the Scruggs firm quit happening.
Who knows whether it took the Butler, Snow folks about 8 hours to finish with Scruggs, but it seems that way from outside.
Looks like the left coast lawyers just found out we don’t play games in federal court down heah in MS. Mills, ain’t Judge Ito after all. LOL.
Welcome to MS boys. Gamesmanship, ignoring judicial orders, reckless slander of prosecution witnesses like Judge Lackey, and cutesy quips like ” If it don’t fit, you must aquit”, aint gonna cut it here dudes. Like…. you may have to actually use….like…. legal arguments and stuff….really.
Thanks for checking on me Stormy – I’m still around. Just didn’t want to say too much my first day in the neighborhood.
And nmiss if I thought the Scruggs topic boring I wouldn’t be here . . . it’s just the State Farm/Scruggs depo battle that is less than exciting to me. As many others will attest, these depo battles occur often in high stakes cases (and in $50k car wreck cases) and they are no more interesting in the other cases than in this one.
But enough. I’ll sit back and enjoy this excellent blog.
George Phillips was US Attorney when Dale was indicted. The case fell apart during the transition to Brad Pigott. Pigott was the one to pull the plug.
There are too many good lawyers in Mississippi who know how to act for Scruggs to fool with Mr. Keker, who apparently thinks he is God’s gift to the legal profession. His condescending attitude and tone towards Mr. Robinson (in the e-mails) was reprehensible. If he acts like that in front of the jury it will be held against him. I would be surprised if Mr. Keker doesn’t make a departure soon. He has already lasted longer than most of Scruggs’ attorneys.
There is certainly a lot more going on in the background, but from what I can see Keker’s only contribution has been to act as a well-paid smartass.
Well he certainly has played that role to a tee.
Unless Scruggs, or one of the other attorneys, can reel Keker in before they get in front of a jury, this trial is going to be ugly for him.
What plays well in Hollywood, doesn’t necessarily play the same way in Holly Springs.