You can never get all the facts from just one newspaper, and unless you have all the facts, you cannot make proper judgments about what is going on.
No argument from me, Harry, I just finished a read-around – and Kansas City Star quotes Todd Graves saying he was in Disney World on March 11, the date of the “trailer meeting” with the Rigsby sisters.
Graves says any suggestion linking him to a meeting on March 11 — about two weeks before he officially left office — is wrong.
“I can’t more categorically or unequivocally say that’s…absolutely ridiculous,” Graves told Prime Buzz.
“Someone pieced together three things that don’t go together,” he said. “March 11 (the day of the alleged meeting) was a Saturday. I was at Disney World,” Graves said.
It will be interesting to track back and see how Graves name got linked to the story in the first place – for now, I’ll just point out that Missouri is the “show me” state.
Bet the Rigsby sister’s Missouri attorneys have plenty to show on Friday, Sop.
There is another Todd, Nowdy but Todd Graves name was first mentioned on David Rossmiller’s blog and then again on Folo. You may remember one of the moderators there was pushing for disciplinary action against Mr Graves because he was there
A lot of folks fell for it, Sop, just like they’re certain the Rigsby sisters were “stealing” documents that Saturday and trying to link their Missouri attorneys to the act.
Maybe it will all be “gone with the wind” – “tomorrow, Scarlett”
I do not see a direct link to State Farm or an ad link. However, I do see a change in the tone of reporting here. Do you have ANY financial relationship with State Farm or other insurers who are impacted by this site?
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Note: I asked Rossmiller a similar question long ago on his blog and he refused to answer the question. He would not even let my question appear on his blog. Instead he bashed me. Later he admitted his conflict of interest. I hope Folo is more accurate in their reporting than Rossmiller when it concerns their own blog.
Note 2: The above post was placed on Folo by myself at 1 pm. Lets see if Folo lets its readers have transparency in regards to the site itself.
Steve we have the reply briefs due tomorrow and then Judge Senter will rule. There are distinctions in the Qui Tam case that make the issues surrounding State Farm’s attorney disqualification motion very different from the policyholder lawsuits.
1. The Scruggs Katrina Group was not associated with Qui Tam. Dickie Scruggs was but not the others.
2. This is a group of attorneys working together for a common client just like the Webb Firm and Butler Snow represent State Farm. There was no partnership between Scruggs and Dewitt/Graves.
3. There has been no discovery in this case. A stay was placed on discovery very early on by Judge Walker. There is not one shred of evidence to substantiate Dewitt/Graves seeing any documents on the State Farm computer system save innuendo in the State Farm motions and in the blogesphere.
All that said Judge Senter could rule that the very act of taking a referral from Dickie Scruggs and working with him on the Qui Tam filing could be cause for DQ but it is a stretch to apply Judge Senter’s reasoning in the policyholder lawsuits to Ex Rel Rigsby. The issues are very different.
The comment left on the Star article says it best, “Kinda makes you wonder about an insurance company who has to worry about whistleblowing in the first place don’t it? Is there a right to hide your corporate misconduct? Should there be?”
You guys are right. There should be no legal right to hide anything you do that is illegal. I have never believed in the “fruit from a poisonous tree” defense. If law enforcement finds a murder weapon in your house that they find from an illegal search, you’re still a killer and ought to burn. Who cares how they get the evidence!
Hey Steve/Sop I wonder how the Folo bar complaint against Todd Graves is doing today? Yes your honor I’m guilty of riding the rocking roller coaster. Did JOhn Grisham ever show up to explain himself to Queen Lotus? Those guys at Folo are another version of the grifters that showed up here after the storm promising to help out with a knife hid behind their back. The question isn’t if State Farm is greasing her palms it is HOW MUCH.
Mr Mass-a-Mess I think a common misconception of the Qui Tam case is the Rigsby documents were used to prepare the filing. My understanding is some emails sent to the Rigsby sisters were shared but none of the now infamous documents.
I have a slightly different take believe it or not. I’m not a lawyer but I know enough about the law to know there are rules in place that must be followed such as not paying witnesses and following proper procedure for discovery. These rules must be respected for our judicial system to work properly. Judge Senter has ruled in the policyholder lawsuits these rules were violated and thus he did what he felt appropriate.
The fallacy is thinking the fact pattern of the policyholder lawsuits applies to the Qui Tam filing known as Ex Rel Rigsby. It is on that case that the ongoing commentary is off the mark. Like I said, Judge Senter could very well boot Dewitt and Graves but it won’t be because they conducted themselves unethically. And if he does logic tells me (because of the differing fact pattern) the line of reasoning he’ll use will also be grounds enough to completely kill the suit.
I don’t see that happening but we’ll all find out soon enough.
State Farm has had it easy lately in cases like McIntosh. However they are not going away and the unpleasant facts associated with how the claim was adjusted will again rear their head. The RICO suit was based upon Nellie William
Gonesouth I will not touch your last comment with a ten foot pole.