Talk about a case with legs! Patsy Brumfield has the story for the Daily Journal:
W. Roberts Wilson’s legal pursuit of former attorney Richard “Dickie” Scruggs has moved to a Texas judge.
Friday, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Edith H. Jones ordered Wilson’s lawsuit against Scruggs and his pursuit of money once belonging to former District Attorney Ed Peters to be presided over by Judge David Hittner of Texas’ Southern District. The order was not posted for public view until today.
Hittner also presides over criminal allegations against disgraced financier R. Allen Stanford, his former Chief Investment Officer Laura Pendergest-Holt of Baldwyn and others.
While Jones did not state, in her order, why she chose Hittner, the appeals court apparently had to choose some other jurisdiction besides Northern Mississippi because nearly all its judges either presided over other Scruggs-related cases or asked not to preside for other reasons.
Recently, Wilson’s lawsuit against Scruggs – asking for millions of dollars in allegedly owed legal fees and penalties – lost Judge Sharion Aycock, who recused herself because her chief deputy had once worked for a firm, which once represented Wilson.
Earlier, Senior Judge Neal Biggers Jr. took himself off the case when he said he had other Scruggs-related issues before him. Biggers also presided over the criminal case in which Scruggs and four others pleaded guilty to varying roles in the attempted bribery of Circuit Judge Henry Lackey of Calhoun City.
Senior Judge Glen H. Davidson presides over the Scruggs-DeLaughter bribery case, in which Scruggs admitted he bribed then-Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter of Hinds County.
The only other Northern judges left were Judge W. Allen Pepper Jr. in Greenville and Chief Judge Michael P. Mills of Oxford, who presided over the criminal case against former Booneville Joey Langston, implicated in the same case with Peters in Scruggs’ alleged bribery of DeLaughter.
DeLaughter, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, insists he was not bribed.
It wasn’t immediately clear why Pepper was not assigned the case after Aycock’s departure.
It also wasn’t clear if Hittner will come to Mississippi for a trial, or if the trial will got to Texas.
And will a Mississippi “I-Wanna-Be-A-Real-Judge-Someday” Magistrate stay on the case or will a Magistrate from the Southern District of Texas be assigned? The devil may be in the details.
If the Judge comes to North Mississippi, he needs to bring his own Magistrate and Clerk – and a mobile office wouldn’t hurt! The courthouse crowd closes rank when it comes to one of their own like Merkel.
Must really make people feel like shit to be paying out all these banana republic officials from these puppet states forever, who’s corruption won’t allow justice as it does the work of the good ole boys. Then when a real legal issue a rises of all places to get a judge, TEXAS !
Never let it be said, Mississippi is last or at the bottom without understanding that it has severed some people well. So let’s just keep all these crooked MoFo’s working the Ms. courts and keep paying them all this money and if we ever need real court action we’ll get a judge from another state. Texas ??
Still, I recall that when attorneys from New Orleans wanted to aid corporate criminals in the act of fraud the case was taken to Hinds county and immediately got attorneys from TEXAS to run the entire show.
Question? If attorneys in N.O. and Jackson need attorneys to take 2 billion 276 million in fraud through the Ms. courts whats the real story with this judge? Texas.
You got it Robert, the Mississippi delta model of keeping the vast majority of the population ignorant so a few wealthy farmers could keep adding to their wealth.
Did you know that once upon a time those self serving ingrates disenfranchised large sections of the state outside the delta so they could retain political power. Bill Minor alluded to it in a recent column.
http://www.sunherald.com/188/story/1661206.html
To this day the vast majority of the -5% districts in this state are north of I-20 while the +5% districts are south of that line. It effectively cheats South Mississippi out of several addtional legislators but again no doubt serves the purposes of those who put their personal interest ahead of the good of the people of this state.
sop
SOP and Nowdy would be doing the readers of SLABBED a public service to publish the “comments” on Judge Hittner from “The Robing Room”. Scary. Power corrupts, and absolute power (such as that wielded by a Federal Judge) corrupts absolutely.