Comments on: The new defense motion and the November 1st meeting at Scruggs Law Office

By: magnolia

magnolia — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 19:53:36 +0000

lotus, Would bet Keker has a whole crew monitoring FOLO around the clock. Scruggs could have saved himself a lot of sweet potatoes if he’d just known about FOLO before he hired The West Coast Wonder, Don’ta jes know it. These posters don’t skip a beat , they remember things that I had forgotten and I have read every word since finding my way here last October.

By: lotus

lotus — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 18:49:14 +0000

Welcome, a Lurker (no more). Yep, you remember correctly. Maybe NMC or somebody else can remember which transcript that is — I just looked for it briefly but haven’t spotted it yet.

By: a Lurker

a Lurker — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 18:41:15 +0000

I just keep reading all of these postings without comment, but it seems that I remember reading that Zach was the one who suggested that Balducci approach Judge Lackey, noting that they were already friends. I think I read that in some transcript that I got from insurancecoverage blog.

By: lotus

lotus — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 17:11:36 +0000

Y’all who are recent-ish arrivals, you wanna try “Redneck Sopranos” on Ms. Search Box to see the fun we got into, starting from “sweet potatoes,” one Sunday afternoon a while back. Might want to wait until your tum’s nice and full, though.

By: Dragoman

Dragoman — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:53:08 +0000

Well put, Seacrest: “…a more comfortable (and colorful) way to tapdance around the indignity” of the thing.

You just know that somewhere, at some level, these guys had to feel deeply ashamed at what they were doing.

By: Seacrest

Seacrest — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:41:03 +0000

Did Balducci use "sweet potatoes " more than once?

It didn’t come off to me it was a decided upon code, but a more comfortable (and colorful) way to tapdance around the indignity in one instance.

Last night I quoted part of the wiretap transcript where Zach enters the room and shuts the door. Balducci address Zach directly and tells him “let me bring YOU up to speed” Balducci tells Zach what’s happening with the Lakey “DEAL”. Zach isn’t confused (What deal?) and does not protest (What are you doing talking to a judge on one of our cases?).

I don’t think it matters if the “deal” with a judge was a bushel of sweet potatoes, an all expense paid trip to Disneyland or a handshake.

By: Curly

Curly — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:38:21 +0000

Why say “sweet potatoes?” Well, it is cinematic — and ALL of these guys felt like they were living like stars on the big screen. Sort of “Sopranic” as in Tony-like. I’m sure these guys were watching the Sopranos and thinking …. COOL!

Well the reality of it is that the law bites and bites hard. When I think of little Timmy in the pen … I feel really sorry for the guy.

By: Anderson

Anderson — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:21:41 +0000

And, for Balducci to quit using them, after becoming an informant, would be a red flag.

Excellent point. Though I think drug dealers are savvier than these boys.

It seems not really difficult to be a corrupt attorney in a place like Mississippi, where everyone’s pretty laid back and simply trusts the other side not to be a crook. Someone who *is* willing to be a crook can rack up some easy wins and think it’s because he’s so darned clever.

By: Dixie K. Blankley

Dixie K. Blankley — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:09:52 +0000

I realize that “guessing” is not worth squat in a court room, I really believe that Zach had been involved in so many shady deals with his father, that he grew up knowing how to protect himself by “not hearing” or “not being in the room”, etc. when anything that would have compromised him arose.

By: observer

observer — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 15:34:47 +0000

As I posted on another thread, code words are frequently used by other criminals in an attempt to obtain some wiggle room if overheard, or charged, by law enforcement. It seldom works, mainly because once the context of the conversation comes out in testimony during the trial, it is clear to everyone what was being discussed.

I was always amazed that there were drug dealers who really thought that such flimsy deceptions would work.

I doubt that even the secretaries that overheard this had any doubt as to what they were all talking about.

And, for Balducci to quit using them, after becoming an informant, would be a red flag. Ask any narcotics agent why they don’t tell their snitches to start using the actual words like “cocaine” when they send them in undercover after being flipped. Because, it’s not what they were doing before.