Day: November 8, 2010

All roads lead back to Jefferson Parish…….

A couple of weeks ago I spoke with Dambala at American Zombie and he mentioned to me that he mentioned us at a recent panel discussion on the media.  I gratefully filed the compliment away until today when Editilla over at the Ladder emailed me the link to that Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities panel discussion on the most important story not being told in the local media.  I’d embed it here but WordPress and Vimeo aren’t getting along today.  We certainly appreciate the mention and kind words.

Speaking of Dambala he stopped in and gave us the skinny on why Ray Ray Chocolate Guy has pre-existing problems in Meffertgate. Once again I see the trade symbol HSOA and the name of it’s disgraced former CEO Frank Fradella mentioned in connection with the local corruption scandals.  I saw HSOA’s trade symbol mentioned a good bit on the finance boards as often happens in issues with lots of price volatility.  Of course Fradella is disgraced because HSOA was a pump and dump.  I’ll further note such scams often have roots in organized crime.

I don’t know exactly why I feel this way but I think this HSOA tie in with Ray Ray is very meaningful from a big picture standpoint.

sop

No surprise, little substance – not much thinking evident in Government’s cognitive map – USA opposes Zach Scruggs’ Motion

Hardly the “breaking news” it was several days ago – and even then not a surprise:

“The government respectfully differs” with Scruggs’ view that he was forced to plead guilty to a crime he didn’t commit and that his former counsel was secretly working with the government for another client…”

Although SLABBED was otherwise engaged when Patsy Brumfield broke the story of the Government’s Response in Opposition to Zach Scruggs’ Motion to Vacate, “Unbelievable” was the reaction on bellesouth’s blog and even the blogging lawyer of north Mississippi was taken aback by the government’s mention of polygraph tests:

“Sid Backstrom attempted to corroborate the petitioner’s denials, but failed an FBI polygraph.  David Zachary Scruggs also failed an FBI polygraph showing deception when he said he knew nothing about money changing hands”.

Others found it “unbelievable” that the Government’s Response made mention of the polygraph tests.  In her day-after story, Patsy Brumfield had comments from Scruggs’ attorney, former Missouri Supreme Court Justice Edward “Chip” Robertson:

“Robertson said he’s surprised they breached a confidentiality agreement about the polygraph, saying its results aren’t reliable or admissible as evidence. (emphasis added)”

Clearly, the Government needed an argument that would likely cause Judge Biggers to flip his wig and deny Zach’s motion.  The reliability of the 404(b) “wig” the Government put in Judge Biggers’ “ear” when the case appeared headed to trial was refuted by the recently obtained documentation incorporated into Zach’s motion – and the Government had little choice but to include a related admission in its opposition response: Continue reading “No surprise, little substance – not much thinking evident in Government’s cognitive map – USA opposes Zach Scruggs’ Motion”