folo

An AP story on two Mississippi death-row inmates’ appeals that they are mentally disabled and should not be put to death includes not only their stories but this conclusion:

Among cases the Supreme Court will decide [during the July-August term] based on briefs filed by attorneys are:

– Mississippi Bar complaints against Oxford attorney Richard “Dickie” Scruggs, his son, Zach, and law partner Sidney Backstrom. Dickie Scruggs and Backstrom have been sentenced on federal charges of conspiring to bribe a state judge. Zach Scruggs has been sentenced for knowing about the conspiracy and failing to notify authorities.

– The Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance’s recommendation that Solomon Osborne be barred from ever seeking judicial office again. The commission cited a racially charged speech Osborne delivered to the Greenwood Voters League in 2006.

Osborne resigned in May as a Leflore County judge. At the time of his resignation, Osborne had been suspended without pay by the Supreme Court for misconduct during an attempted repossession in 2002 of a vehicle owned by the judge’s family members.

Thursdays at 1:30: be there or be square.

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Yikes, in the rush of yesterday, I forgot to post these two stories from Alyssa (thereby earning myself a bash from the Noodly Appendages). I’m sure you’ll find them both interesting, so I sorry.

Minor fails drug test, sent to prison
By Alyssa Schnugg
Staff Writer

Katie South cried when she heard the news Monday afternoon.

After three years, she said she finally has some justice in the death of her husband, Joe.
‘It feels like a dream,’ she said through tears. ‘It just doesn’t seem real.’

Joe South was killed in February 2005 on Highway 7 in Marshall County on his way to work by Darron Lee Minor, who was under the influence of drugs at the time he ran into South’s car.

In March, Minor pleaded guilty to aggravated DUI and was given a 20-year prison sentence, but 18 years were suspended. He was to spend two of those years under house arrest. If he violated his house arrest, Circuit Court Judge Andrew Howorth told Minor he would serve the remaining sentence in prison.

On Monday, Assistant [? sic] District Attorney Ben Creekmore said Minor failed more than one drug test with the most recent one being for cocaine. His probation was violated and he was picked up on a warrant Monday and taken to the Marshall County Jail late where he awaits transportation to a state prison.

‘He deserves to spend 20 years in prison for killing Joe,’ Katie said. ‘Everyone told me it was just a matter of time.

According to court records, South was traveling north on Highway 7 a mile north of Waterford when a car, driven by Minor, slammed into him. Minor was traveling south on Highway 7, but for unknown reasons, lost control of his vehicle and crossed over the center line into South’s path, killing him.

Minor, a nephew to Northern District Transportation Commissioner Bill Minor, was charged with aggravated DUI in January 2006.

Minor changed his plea to guilty after his trial had already begun. At the time, Katie wasn’t thrilled at Minor’s sentence through the plea agreement. Neither was Creekmore, but he said he accepted the plea agreement because a crucial piece of evidence could have been contested.

The Mississippi Highway Patrol officer working the wreck ordered a blood test on Minor, but he ordered it under an old statute that was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court and probably would not have been allowed to be entered as evidence into Minor’s trial.

The blood test revealed Minor was under the influence of amphetamines and methamphetamine at the time of the wreck, according to court records.

During his sentencing, Howorth warned Minor that ‘any breaks’ Minor felt he received with the plea agreement would be the last one he would receive.

‘Whatever breaks came to him, were only a matter of circumstance,’ Creekmore said. ‘Not deliberately done to give him a break. He had a chance to benefit from those circumstances, but was unable to toe the line.’

The case received national attention earlier this year when transcripts from an investigation into a judicial bribery attempt were made public.

Attorney Richard ‘Dickie’ Scruggs, his son, Zach Scruggs, Sidney Backstrom, Timothy Balducci and Steven Patterson were indicted in November for offering Circuit Judge Henry L. Lackey $40,000 for an order Scruggs wanted the judge to issue in a dispute with another law firm over $26.5 million in legal fees from Hurricane Katrina cases.

Lackey went to the FBI and began working uncover with them, allowing his office and phone line to be tapped.

During a taped conversation with Lackey during the investigation, Balducci attempted to bribe him again with $10,000 for a favorable ruling in Minor’s case. No charges were brought against Balducci for that incident. Balducci was approached by the FBI later that same day and began working with the government in its case against the others.

The elder Scruggs was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday. On the same day, Backstrom received a 28-month prison sentence. Zach Scruggs is set for sentencing Wednesday. No sentencing dates have been scheduled for Balducci and Patterson.

–alyssa@oxfordeagle.com

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Judge Lackey honored by Mississippi Bar
By Alyssa Schnugg
Staff Writer

Circuit Court Judge Henry Lackey describes himself as a ‘country bumpkin’ who loves the law.
‘The law’s been good to me,’ Lackey said Monday. ‘I’ve made a decent living, been able to help a lot of people and a lot of people have helped me.’

On Monday, the Mississippi Bar announced in a newsletter that Lackey has been honored with the Judicial Excellence Award which will be awarded to him on July 19, during the Bar’s yearly luncheon in Destin, Fla.

Lackey learned of the award a few weeks ago, he said. The award is presented by the Bar in recognition of a judge who has exceeded the call of the judicial office and is an example of judicial excellence; a leader in advancing the quality and efficiency of justice, and a person of high ideals, character and integrity, said Larry Hutchins, executive director of the Mississippi Bar.

Going over and above the call of duty is something which Lackey is familiar.

For more than six months, he wore a wire for the FBI and had his phone calls monitored while helping the government in its case against five men who were involved in a conspiracy to bribe Lackey with $40,000 for a favorable ruling in a lawsuit against trial attorney, Richard ‘Dickie’ Scruggs.

But Lackey doesn’t like the term ‘hero.’ He was just doing his job.

‘I was just doing what my oath required me to do,’ he said. ‘I haven’t done anything more than a 100 other judges would have done under the circumstances.’

But Mississippi Bar president Bobby Bailess would disagree.

‘I have known Judge Lackey for just three years,’ Bailess said. ‘In that short time, it is clear to me that he is a true gentleman, a dedicated public servant and revered judge with impeccable character and the necessary judicial temperament. The courage he exhibited in dealing with the attempted bribery was overwhelming. I can think of no more deserving recipient of this prestigious award.’

Lackey said while he’s ‘ambivalent’ about why he received the award, he is appreciative that his peers perceive him in such high regards.

‘It’s difficult to put in words how I’m feeling,’ he said. ‘I’m appreciative of the award, but I’m sore it happened to begin with and glad that chapter of my life is over.’

Also receiving an award from the Bar in Oxford is out-going University of Mississippi provost and professor of law Carolyn Ellis Staton, who won the Susie Blue Buchanan Award.

–alyssa@oxfordeagle.com

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Standing in for the Oxford Eagle’s website, folo proudly presents . . .
Younger Scruggs to serve 14 months in jail
Zach Scruggs also ordered to pay $250,000 fine
By Alyssa Schnugg
Staff Writer

U.S. District Senior Judge Neal B. Biggers Jr. said he had a hard time believing Zach Scruggs wasn’t aware of any money being exchanged during a judicial bribery attempt, prior to sentencing Scruggs to spend 14 months in prison.

Scruggs, his father, Richard ‘Dickie’ Scruggs, former attorney Timothy Balducci, former state auditor Steve Patterson and the Scruggses’ law partner Sidney Backstrom were charged in November for attempting to bribe Circuit Court Judge Henry Lackey with $40,000 for a favorable ruling in a lawsuit filed against the elder Scruggs.

In March, Zach Scruggs pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of misprision of a felony, which means he had knowledge a felony had occurred but didn’t report it to authorities.

During his sentence, Zach Scruggs’ attorney, Mike Moore, said his client’s only knowledge was that Balducci was sent to talk to Lackey and use his long-time friendship with Lackey to send the lawsuit to arbitration.

‘He never had any knowledge there was a conspiracy to bribe the judge,’ said Moore, who is the former Mississippi Attorney General.

‘He isn’t being sentenced for conspiracy,’ Biggers said. ‘It’s a stretch to believe that Backstrom never mentioned there was any money involved.’

Zach Scruggs will also serve a year on supervised probation after his release and was ordered to pay a $250,000 fine.

Moore told Biggers that Zach Scrugg’s wife was expecting their third child and asked the judge if Zach Scruggs could turn himself after his child was born in October.

‘You may file a written motion and the court will consider it,’ Biggers said.

On Friday, the senior Scruggs was sentenced to five years in prison and Backstrom received a 28-month sentence. They were ordered to turn themselves into on Aug. 4 to begin their sentences. Balducci and Patterson have not yet been sentenced. No court date has been set for them.

Zach Scruggs said he was deeply sorry for his involvement in the case.

‘I wish I could go back and change what happened …,’ Zach Scruggs told the court. ‘I should have stopped what happened. I should have objected to what happened … I’m deeply sorry and remorseful and I ask this court for forgiveness.’

Biggers called Zach Scruggs’ case a ‘sad’ one, particularly since it was his own father who got him involved with the illegal activity.

Biggers chastised the junior Scruggs for not respecting Judge Lackey, despite his comments about respecting and loving the law during his plea hearing.

‘You didn’t show respect for the Circuit Court when you said, –’We need to get this signed before some other (expletive) gets the case,” Biggers said, referring to a comment Zach Scruggs made on one of the tapes.

During the sentencing hearing, Biggers and Moore butted heads frequently.

‘If I want you to respond, I will ask you to,’ Biggers said at one point.

It was apparent Scruggs and his attorneys, Todd Graves and Moore, were not prepared for a sentence which included prison time since the government asked for leniency for the younger Scruggs and recommended probation.

Moore asked Biggers if he could include a request for a particular institution for Scruggs to serve his sentence in his motion.

‘We were not prepared to do that,’ Moore said. ‘We have not given any consideration about where Mr. Scruggs would go.’

According to the Mississippi Bar, the Scruggses and Backstrom will lose their licenses to practice law for pleading guilty to a felony. The Mississippi Supreme Court will consider disbarment petitions against Dickie and Zach Scruggs and Backstrom in the July-August term, according to the Associated Press. Balducci already has relinquished his law license. Patterson was not an attorney.

–alyssa@oxfordeagle.com

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The Daily Mississippian runs a kind of strange mismatch of story and headline today. The headline reads What now? Ole Miss faculty responds to Scruggs’ maximum sentence — but Curtis Wilkie turns out to be the only faculty member quoted.

Associate Professor of journalism Curtis Wilkie is now working on a book about the Scruggs case.

“I know him personally and he knows that I’m doing a book on this case,” Wilkie said. “That being the case, we have never discussed his situation.”

Wilkie said that few have been as generous in contributing to the university as Scruggs has. [Etc., etc.]

The story also quotes some of Chancellor Khayat’s letter and includes this passage, the last paragraph of which may be slightly garbled in the translation:

Sam Davis, chair of the law school, said he was personally saddened for the families involved and the whole legal system.

“The vast majority of lawyers and those involved in law are honest, law-abiding citizens,” Davis said. “It will take a lot to restore the public’s confidence in the system again.”

Davis said the situation was “a bit of an enigma.”

“As Mr. Scruggs’ attorney said, it would take a Faulkner or a Percy to tell the full story,” he said. “Earwig is an archaic term that means you are going to the judge without the knowledge or permission of the other side. Talking to a judge about a case is a very old term for a very old problem, one that at times has been very serious. Until this case, law students have been saying, ‘Earwig? What is that?’”

Seeing the headline, I was hoping for the view from Ole Miss Law, but no. Meanwhile over at the DJournal, an editorialist opines:

The federal judiciary and its prosecutors delivered a humiliating blow on Friday to the enemies of integrity in the Mississippi state judiciary.

The sentencing of famed plaintiffs’ attorney Richard Scruggs and his former law firm associate, Sidney Backstrom, on charges of attempting to bribe a state circuit court judge, reverberates among all who think they can get away with anything because they are above the law. …

Dickie Scruggs, Zack Scruggs, Sid Backstrom, Steve Patterson, Joey Langston, and Tim Balducci failed themselves, their families, their communities, their friends, their innocent colleagues, and the legal profession.

But they got caught, the single possibility that apparently never entered their minds or touched their consciences.

Here, I rather expected a repeated call for Jim Hood to follow up at the state level, or some handwringing that state law hasn’t been brought to bear too, but nope, not this time.

Guess I’m not very attuned with North Mississippi media yet today.

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Judge sentences Scruggs to five years

As of yore, Alyssa Schnugg and the Eagle give us permission to publish the following:

Powerful attorney almost collapses during sentencing

By Alyssa Schnugg
Staff Writer

Richard Scruggs walked into the courtroom with a smile and a handshake for many in the room. His smile quickly faded as U.S. District Senior Judge Neal Biggers Jr. berated the powerful trial attorney for his actions before sentencing him to five years in prison.

Scruggs began to cry, and his body shook as he leaned against his attorney John Keker. A chair was brought over for him to sit while Biggers finished sentencing him.

‘I couldn’t be more ashamed to be where I am today, to be mixed up in a judicial bribery scheme,’ Scruggs said to the court prior to his sentencing. ‘I disappointed everyone — my wife, my family, my son, my friends … I deeply regret my conduct … There’s a scar and a stain on my soul forever.’

Scruggs was charged in November for attempting to bribe Circuit Court Judge Henry Lackey with $40,000 for a favorable ruling in a lawsuit against him. He pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiring to bribe a judge in March. Four others — his son Zach Scruggs, Timothy Balducci, Steven Patterson, and his former law partner Sidney Backstrom — were also charged and have since pleaded guilty. Backstrom’s sentencing was set for 2 this afternoon at the U.S. District Courthouse in Oxford.

Biggers spoke to Scruggs for almost 10 minutes, reading parts of the oath lawyers take before becoming a lawyer and calling his crime ‘one of the worst crimes a lawyer could commit.’

‘This is very unpleasant for me,’ Biggers said. ‘You not only attempted to bribe the court, but you violated the oath. … You found out Judge Lackey is not a man to bribe. The justice system made you a rich man, yet you attempted to corrupt it.’

Scruggs was given a $250,000 fine and must report to prison by Aug. 4. He will then serve three years of supervised probation. Keker asked Biggers to recommend Scruggs serve his time at the Federal Prison Camp in Pensacola, Fla., since they have family there and it would make it easier for Scruggs’ wife, Diane, to visit him. Biggers obliged.

‘Best of luck to you,’ were Biggers’ final words to Scruggs.

Part of Scruggs’ plea agreement he signed in March capped the possible prison sentence at 60 months. Backstrom is expected to receive a 30-month sentence, since his plea agreement stated he could receive up to half of whatever sentence Scruggs received.

The younger Scruggs is set for sentencing on July 2. Balducci and Patterson have not yet received sentencing dates.

End of a career
After establishing his small practice in Pascagoula, Scruggs gained national attention for earning millions of dollars from asbestos litigation and for his role in a multibillion-dollar settlement with tobacco companies in the mid-1990s.

His meteoric rise in the legal profession and his sudden wealth was a story that could have been scripted by Hollywood — a fact emphasized when his case against the tobacco companies was made a central part of the 1999 movie ‘The Insider,’ starring Al Pacino and Russell Crowe. An actor portrayed Scruggs in the movie, and some scenes were filmed at Scruggs’ home in Pascagoula.

Scruggs, whose brother-in-law is former U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, moved his home and his practice from the Gulf Coast to Oxford about three years ago. He invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in renovations to his office over looking the Square and in the new home he is building around the corner from William Faulkner’s Rowan Oak.

Scruggs sued State Farm Insurance on behalf of hundreds of policyholders whose claims had been denied by insurance companies after their homes were destroyed in Hurricane Katrina.
Scruggs put together a legal team, called the Scruggs Katrina Group, to represent the policyholders in the court battle against the insurance companies. One of the firms brought in to work with Scruggs was Jones, Funderburg, Sessums, Peterson & Lee, a law firm based in Jackson.

After the legal team reached a settlement with State Farm Insurance Cos. in January 2007, a dispute over how the $26.5 million in legal fees would be distributed to the firms erupted between the Jones law firm and the other members of the Scruggs Katrina Group. The Jones firm was kicked out of the legal team and, after attempts to resolve the compensation dispute failed, the Jones firm took the unusual step of filing a lawsuit against the other members of the legal team.

The Jones firm, led by attorney John G. Jones, filed a civil lawsuit, Jones, et all. v. Scruggs, et al, in the Lafayette County Circuit Court in March 2007. The Jackson firm hired the Tollison Law Firm in Oxford to represent them in the litigation.

That’s when Scruggs and the other four men indicted in November 2007 allegedly hatched a plan to bribe Lackey to issue a ruling in this legal dispute in their favor, according to the indictment.

Not over yet
Scruggs is still being investigated in the alleged attempted bribing of Hinds County Court Judge Bobby DeLaughter.

According to court records, Scruggs used his influence with Lott to dangle the possibility of a federal judge appointment in front of DeLaughter if he ruled favorably in a lawsuit against Scruggs — Wilson v. Scruggs. Attorney Joey Langston has been indicted in that case and has pleaded guilty. He is awaiting sentencing. No other charges have been filed in that case thus far.

–alyssa@oxfordeagle.com

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With the caveat that the Eagle‘s website is inordinately balky this afternoon (even by its singular standards), I commend to your attention Alyssa Schnugg’s two new stories.

The first begins:

They asked for leniency

They asked for mercy.

They spoke of past good deeds and forgiveness for a momentary lapse in judgment.

In the 446 letters written to the U.S. District Court in regards to Richard ‘Dickie’ Scruggs, his son Zach Scruggs and his former law partner Sidney Backstrom, only about 10 asked U.S. District Senior Judge Neal Biggers Jr. to throw the book at the men, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe a circuit court judge. …

Then there’s

Fallen attorney Richard ‘Dickie’ Scruggs’ attorneys told the court in a sentencing statement filed late Wednesday, that he should receive no more than 30 months in prison for attempting to bribe a circuit court judge. …

Alyssa, if I lived in Oxford, I’d march right into your publisher’s office and snatch him or her bal’-headed for hobbling such a good reporter with such a piss-pore website! But you knew that.

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Here’s the whole story, from Alyssa Schnugg at the Oxford Eagle. A link to the site will come later:

Assistant DA says Lackey’s testimony was true

Hood denies Scruggs threatened to fund opponent

By Alyssa SchnuggStaff Writer

What would a good legal thriller be without some "he-said-she-said " to throw into the mix of intrigue, corruption and accusations?

But in the infamous judicial bribery case involving Richard "Dickie " Scruggs and four others, there appears to be a case of "he-said-he-said-he-said. "

On Tuesday, Circuit Court Judge Henry Lackey testified during a civil lawsuit hearing against Scruggs that Assistant District Attorney Lon Stallings told him in March 2007 that Attorney General Jim Hood told him that Scruggs, through former Attorney General Mike Moore, had promised him if he did not go along with the settlement in a legal dispute between State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. and Scruggs over the insurer’s handling of homeowner’s claims, that Scruggs and Moore would find a candidate who would run against him.

Hood has denied Moore ever made such a threat to him.

"No, Mike Moore never approached me with such a message, " Hood said Wednesday in an e-mail to The EAGLE. "Judge Lackey was right to turn the case over to the federal government which has the wiretap authority that the state lacks. "

Lackey’s testimony Tuesday came during a civil hearing for a lawsuit filed by a Jackson law firm, Jones, Funerburg, Sessums, Peterson and Lee. The lawsuit alleged Scruggs and the others conspired to "freeze out " the Jones firm and offered it a "ridiculously low figure " for its work on Katrina cases. The firm claims Scruggs is withholding money the firm is owed for working on Hurricane Katrina insurance-related litigation. It’s the same case in which Scruggs pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe Lackey for a favorable ruling.

Scruggs, his son, Zach Scruggs, law partner Sidney Backstrom, former New Albany attorney Timothy Balducci and former state auditor Steven Patterson were indicted in November and have pleaded guilty to charges related to the federal bribery investigation. They are awaiting sentencing.

Circuit Court Judge William Coleman ruled in favor of the Jones’ firm Wednesday. A hearing is set Nov. 12 to decide how much Jones will be paid by the members of the former Scruggs Katrina Group.

Threats denied

Moore said that recently published reports claiming that Stallings had text messaged him to assure Moore that Lackey’s comments about his threatening Hood’s position were untrue. Moore said the text message he received earlier this week came from his associate, Lee Martin.

Moore also denied threatening Hood in any way.

"Never happened, " he said this morning. "First off, I wouldn’t threaten someone to run against (Hood). I’m the one who got him to run to begin with. He’s been my friend a long time. When his second campaign came around, we helped run his campaign … If anyone is trying to do anything negative against (Hood), they’re gonna be on the other side of me. I’m on Jim’s side. "

Moore, who is representing Zach Scruggs in the bribery case, said he worked as an unpaid "facilitator between all the parties " in the legal battles that followed Hurricane Katrina, which hit the coast in August 2005. Moore said he did advise Hood, but never pressured him to do anything on behalf on Scruggs.

"As far as what Judge Lackey said, the information is wrong, " Moore said. "Maybe he’s confused. Maybe someone else is doing that stuff. Maybe Steven Patterson. I prosecuted and removed (Patterson) from office. He doesn’t like me much. Whatever those boys are saying, they aren’t talking to me about it. "

Patterson was removed as state auditor after admitting to filing papers to avoid paying car taxes.

Backing Lackey

For his part, Stallings — upset about media reports claiming he made the story up and that he sent a text message to Moore on Tuesday during the hearing saying he never made that comment to Lackey — told The EAGLE Wednesday he was "really hurt " reading the statements in the newspapers.

"I grew up in Calhoun City and have known Lackey since I was a child, " Stallings said. "The last thing I’d want people in Calhoun to think is that I would have done that or said that about Judge Lackey. He told the truth. A few details got confused, but the thrust of his testimony was correct. "

Stallings said Lackey had come to him in March, shortly after being approached by Balducci who appeared to be trying to corruptly influencing Lackey by asking him to side with Scruggs in the Jones v. Scruggs lawsuit and offered Lackey a position in his law firm after Lackey retired.

"(Lackey) was upset about it and asked me why someone would think he’d do something like that, " Stallings said. "He suspected Scruggs was behind it … I told him we had an investigator that we’ve used in voter fraud cases that would wire up and send in there. "

Stallings said Lackey didn’t trust the Attorney General’s office to investigate the case since Hood, Moore and Scruggs were friend.

"I told Judge Lackey that I didn’t think Jim (Hood) was as close to Mike (Moore) anymore, " Stallings said. "I told him that to my recollection what (Hood) told me, and that was Mike (Moore) had told him that Dickie threatened to get him an opponent to run against him if he didn’t settle the case. "

Lackey later decided to go the U.S. Attorney’s Office and report the incident.

Friendships may end

Stallings said Hood called him Wednesday, after hearing about Lackey’s testimony.

"I think Jim remembers it differently, " Stallings said. "I consider Judge Lackey, Mike and Jim friends. All of this could end some friendships. "

Hood, a Democrat and former district attorney, was elected to his second term last year. Scruggs was one of his biggest campaign contributors.

Moore, a popular Democrat who served four terms as attorney general before going back to private practice, had a close relationship with Hood and Scruggs.

Scruggs, the brother-in-law of former U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, was one of the most prominent lawyers in the country. Moore, acting as attorney general in the 1990s, hand-picked Scruggs to lead the legal assault on tobacco companies that resulted in multi-billion dollar payout.

This is not the first time allegations have surfaced that Scruggs sent messengers to tell Hood how to handle cases against State Farm.

An FBI report made public in February said Scruggs paid $500,000 to two men now entangled in the bribery investigation — Balducci and Patterson — to persuade Hood not to file criminal charges against State Farm.

Scruggs, who was suing State Farm on behalf of storm victims, was afraid that the insurer "was not going to settle the civil cases " if the attorney general’s office filed criminal charges, according to the FBI report based on Balducci’s statements.

Hood has acknowledged meeting with Patterson and Balducci around Christmas 2006, but said he was not influenced by them.

Meanwhile, the sign on the Scruggs Law Firm door on the Square has been taken down. A receptionist answering the phone said the firm was "apparently not closed " since someone was still answering the phone. However the receptionist referred any questions to John Keker in California who is representing Scruggs in the criminal procedure. Keker decline to comment about the status of the law firm.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

–alyssa@oxfordeagle.com
Alyssa Schnugg

Staff Writer

Oxford Eagle

662-234-4331 Ext. 245

 

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As in days of old, Alyssa Schnugg and the Oxford Eagle invite folo to print their story before it hits their own website. Thank you very much, Alyssa and Eagle.

Zach Scruggs pleads guilty to lesser charge
Last of five defendants in judicial bribery scandal admits guilt
By Alyssa Schnugg
Staff Writer

The last of the quintet charged with attempting to bribe Lafayette County Circuit Court Judge Henry Lackey pleaded guilty this morning to a lesser charge.

Zach Scruggs, 33, pleaded guilty to having knowledge of a felony and failing to alert authorities in front of U.S. District Court Senior Judge Neal Biggers Jr. at the Federal Courthouse in Oxford.

The charge, technically called "misprision of a felony " is a felony charge and carries a possible sentence of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He also faces disbarment.

The government needed to prove four factors: that a felony had occurred; that Scruggs had knowledge of said felony; that he failed to notify the authorities of said felony; and that he committed an act of conspiracy to conceal the crime.

Scruggs was indicted in November, along with his father, Richard "Dickie " Scruggs, law partner Sidney Backstrom, New Albany attorney Timothy Balducci, and his non-attorney associate and former state auditor Steve Patterson, for attempting to bribe Circuit Court Judge Henry Lackey with $40,000 for a favorable ruling in a lawsuit against the elder Scruggs, involving a dispute over attorney fees from Hurricane Katrina-related cases.

All but Zach had pleaded guilty and were awaiting sentencing. Zach’s plea came during what was supposed to be only a pre-trial hearing this morning. Earlier this week, Zach "lawyered up " by adding several more attorneys to his team — including former Attorney General Mike Moore, who was present today with Zach in court. Courthouse observers took this move as a strong statement the junior Scruggs intended to go to trial.

It’s not known why Zach decided to change his plea this morning.

Another bit of a surprise was the government recommending only probation for Zach, although the ultimate decision will come from Biggers, who could sentence Zach to up to three years in prison. Biggers said the sentencing hearing will be sometime between six and eight weeks.

U.S. Assistant Attorney David Sanders also announced the government agrees not to charge Zach with any other offenses arising from — or relating to — this case, including the open investigation into the alleged corrupt influencing of Hinds County Judge Bobby DeLaughter. Former attorney Joey Langston has pleaded guilty in the case and has said in testimony that the Scruggses were part of the conspiracy. But this morning, the government told Biggers they had no knowledge that Zach was privy to any additional information of any other felonies.

After Biggers accepted Zach’s change of plea, Zach addressed the court, denying he ever intended, nor conspired, to bribe Judge Lackey but admitting he knew that Balducci was using his personal relationship with Lackey to gain the favorable ruling and that he should have tried to stop it.

"As a member of the court, I had a duty to try to prevent such acts, " Zach said in a clear, strong voice. "I am truly sorry and I apologize to the court and the legal profession that I love so much … The legal profession has high standards, not just a duty to not do ex parte contact but to prevent others from doing ex parte contact. I hope that the Mississippi bar will gain from my mistake. "

Biggers replied: "The legal profession you say you love so much, you will not be a part of the rest of your life. "

–alyssa@oxfordeagle.com

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This morning’s Daily Journal carries Patsy Brumfield’s survey of the four related cases impacted by the pleas Friday: U.S. v. Scruggs itself, of course, as well as Jones v. Scruggs, Wilson v. Scruggs, and that yet-to-be-born creature whose hyphenated surname may end up something like “Peters-DeLaughter-Scruggs-Lott.” It’s a good overview in chart-like format, listing synopses, players, and current status of each case.

Meanwhile, the editorial A sad spectacle bemoans that

The guilty plea Friday of Richard ‘Dickie’ Scruggs and his associate Sidney Backstrom in a conspiracy to bribe a circuit judge confirms the worst: Mississippi’s most feared plaintiffs’ attorney was willing to do anything – even the blatantly unethical and illegal – to win. …

After excoriating the perps and praising Judge Lackey, the piece concludes:

… There’s more to come, apparently. The case in which Langston pleaded guilty to an attempted bribe of Hinds County Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter – with the suggestion of Scruggs’ involvement, but not his indictment – remains to be resolved. If pulled further into that and other cases, Scruggs could be looking at more than the five-year prison sentence the government recommeded after his guilty plea Friday.

It’s a sad spectacle, and it is made all the more so by the interwoven political threads. Scruggs’ special relationship with his brother-in-law, former Republican Sen. Trent Lott, and his and the other defendants’ heavy involvement in supporting mostly Democratic candidates cast a pall on the political system as well as the courts. Attorney General Jim Hood said recently that he could not be involved in any state prosecution of Scruggs, Langston and others because of his close association with them.

As in so many instances over the years, it was the federal government that intervened to ferret out corruption in Mississippi. Our state badly needs more emphasis on keeping its own house in order – whatever the political consequences.

Had it been me, I might have italicized and bolded the word “badly.”

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Anita Lee’s story in this morning’s Sun Herald begins,

It is unclear what cooperation Dickie Scruggs has pledged as a result of his guilty plea today in a judicial bribery case, but the FBI’s special agent in charge said his office has committed the manpower to “work the case to its logical conclusion.”

“Public corruption is our No. 1 criminal priority,” said Frederick T. Brink, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Jackson Division. “Americans expect a fair and impartial judicial system. Any attempts to undermine that through bribery or other types of illegal activity really critically damages our faith in our judicial system. It is a particularly heinous crime.”

Brink said he is awaiting copies of the plea agreements that Scruggs and another lawyer in his firm, Sidney Backstrom, reached with the government. The FBI has worked on the case with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District, which notified U.S. District Court Judge Neal B. Biggers of the plea agreements in Oxford. …

It concludes:

… “The FBI has been very successful in combating public corruption,” Brink said. “I think in part because of the public’s willingness, in this case Judge Lackey’s willingness, to come forward.”

Brink urged citizens with information about public corruption to call the FBI office in Jackson at 601-948-5000.

So there you go, if you’ve got something for them, now you know where to call. Heck, I bet Hinds County alone, if it had a mind to, could melt down their wire.

O(this)T P.S.: I’ve linked them before, but if you haven’t read the local-est reporters’ accounts of yesterday’s hearing, I think you’ve missed the two best: Patsy’s and Alyssa’s.

lotus

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