The motions filed today include the first 16 or so pages of the grand jury testimony of FBI Agent Delaney. Again, I’m going to hold off talking about the November 1st meeting that is the core of the motion filed today. Here’s the interesting stuff other than that:
- Judge Lackey had initially called John Hailman and Tom Dawson in the U.S. Attorney’s office, who then called Agent Delaney’s boss. The judge agreed to cooperate in any way possible, and consented to have his chambers “wired for sound,” signing a waiver to consent to recordings.
- The order Balducci faxed to Judge Lackey in May came to Balducci through an email from Sid Backstrom at the Scruggs Firm; the email contained the contents of the order. Balducci used it to create his own document which he faxed to Judge Lackey.
- On November 1st, as Balducci was leaving the judge’s office, Delaney and another agent, Jim Seros, approached Balducci as he exited the office. They asked to speak to him about this matter. He agreed and spoke with them. They played him a tape of one of the meetings with the judge where bribe payments were made. After discussing it with members of the U.S. attorneys office he agreed to cooperate and go into the Scruggs office with a wire.
The testimony can be read here: Grand Jury testimony of Agent Delaney
Drat, NMC, can’t get that pdf to load.
it loads for me off the url. Not sure what is going on with your computer.
Yeh, as we know, NMC, that’s always a good question.
Teehee, now it opens but in light-gray print. For my sins, I own this machine.
Gah, I wish FBI talk weren’t so bone-dry all the time.
Dry reading indeed. I wanted to hear how his bowels ran cold and he panicked down the trench.
I want to know how many different colors he turned.
don’t you know he just chit all in his pants….makes me wonder how he was so calm and his normal, Timmy Blowhard-self 2 hours later in Scrugg’s office. I don’t think I could have pulled that off.
His whole game was bullshit, imho, Its All Good. He just went with his strengths, or reverted to form, however you want to put it.
I read a funny 302 one time where an FBI agent wrote a report about someone stealing his badge and credentials from the locker room where he was working out.
He reported that after a “vigorous interrogation” of one of the suspects, the suspect had in fact admitted that he had taken them, and returned them to the agent.
Vigorous, to say the very least, we all decided.
And also– think how mind-focusing it would be to know that the more folks you corral into your net, the less time you go to jail.
I agree with NMC. Balducci is no hero here, just the lesser of several evils in a falling out among thieves that the federal investigation probably accelerated, but that was most likely inevitable. But, the fact that these kind of people do end up flocking together, is one of the things that does work in the cops’ favor most of the time.
He was already an accomplished con man working for Scruggs. All the feds had to do was convince him it was in his best interest to start working for them. It probably didn’t take five minutes.
Well, maybe they gave him a nice big drink and some fresh underoos, then sent him toddling along to Oxford. But I’m with you, IAG — hard to imagine how he pulled himself together this quickly. I’ve always wondered about that.
I’d like to know what tapes his mind played for him on the drive back to Dickie’s.
soundtrack possibilities:
“In the Jailhouse Now”
“Christmas in Jail”
“Lawyer Clark Blues”
“Judge Harsh Blues”
“Mama Tried”
“Folsom Prison Blues”
“San Quentin”
I know I haven’t exhausted the possibilities but those are the first that came to mind.
“Been caught stealing” by Jane’s Addiction.
Ooo, I’d love to hear “Lawyer Clark Blues” and “Judge Harsh Blues” — especially if they’re Washington Phillips’s!
Nope, Sleepy John Estes and Furry Lewis, respectively.
(ducky’s cue to bring us some mo’ YouTubes, hint hint)
“That’s why I like Lawyer Clark,
He really is my friend.
He say if you stay out of the graveyard, John
I’ll see that you don’t go to the pen.”
It was based on an actual lawyer in Brownsville, TN. You can hear a bit of it a this link.
Here’s some of Judge Harsh blues:
Good morning judge, what may be my fine (x3)
50 dollars eleven 29
…
Baby cause I’m arrested, please don’t grieve and moan
Cause I’m arrested baby, don’t grieve and moan
Penitentiary seem just like my home
People all talking ’bout what they will do
Judge all talking ’bout what they will do
If they had justice he’d be in penitentiary too
Nothing online with the original recordings of either song. Here’s Furry Lewis doing it late in his life (he originally recorded it in the 20s. This is a rerecording from 40something years later)
this one would be on my mind if I was behind bars. Definitley brings a tear to the eye:
I’m Not The Boy I Used To Be By Charley Pride
Dear Mama I’m Coming Home Tomorrow
if You Don’t Mind Would You Meet Me At The Train
dear Mama My Wandering Days’re Over And It’s So Good To Be Coming Home Again
dear Mama We’ll Walk The Fields Together
and Through The Valley We Will Stroll Hand In Hand
i Just Can’t Wait To See You And Touch The Soil Of Home So Clean
but Mama I’m Not The Boy I Used To Be
for I’ve Been Gone Away Too Long And I’ve Done Everything That’s Wrong
but I Think I’ve Finally Found Myself At Last
and Just You Wait And See Another Chance Is All I Need
but Mama I’m Not The Boy I Used To Be
you See Mama I’ve Spent Time In Prison For A Crime That I’m Too Ashamed To Tell
and When You Meet Me There Tomorrow Don’t Be Surprised At What You’ll See
cause Mama I’m Not The Boy I Used To Be
for I’ve Been Gone Away Too Long…
pretty great, IAG.
Wonderfuls, y’all. I dedicate
“Judge all talking ’bout what they will do
If they had justice he’d be in penitentiary too”
to Houston Patton and Bobby DeLaughter.
sorry so tardy lotus 20. think i may be gettin the flu.
found this pretty wonderful thing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNBZzH99Dpo
ducky, you just a YouTube WIZARD, cha! And that is a wonderful thing.
But we can’t have you messin’ with no flu, so got to get you some TamiFlu toot sweet — isn’t that the good stuff, NMC and irate?
Entertaining comments all. I’m no lawyer but it seems to me that if you proceed with a presumption of innocence, Zach is clearly a victim here. Bal-douche-e got caught by the feds with his hand in the cookie jar and then offered to deliver Scruggs Law to get his ass out of the crack. Who among you really thinks that a jury will believe that Dickie would do this,one and involve his son,two in bribe and conspiracy. Wake up and smell the coffee.
Infidel at 29
Just wondering, but why would Balducci be talking to a judge on the sly about a Scruggs case he is not a party to?