Nowdy covered the civil cases related to the political prosecution of former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz back when she was active here on Slabbed and it pairs up well with a topic I’ve covered in Jefferson Parish in the suit filed by Anne Marie Vandenweghe against the Parish and former interim Parish President Steve TheRiot. I noted some recent news in Lampton that has implications for the suit against the Parish as we again find the law firm of Phelps Dunbar in an interest conflicted situation. I’ll begin with the Sun Herald’s Anita Lee:
Dunn Lampton, now deceased, then took the tax records of Diaz and his wife, Jennifer Diaz, to the Mississippi Judicial Performance Commission. Leslie Lampton was a commission member at the time and was part of an investigation involving the tax records, which ended without action in December 2008.
A 5th Circuit panel already has ruled Dunn Lampton was not immune from a lawsuit because he was acting outside the scope of his official duties as U.S. attorney when he turned over the tax records to the commission.
A trial judge had ruled neither Dunn Lampton nor Leslie Lampton was immune from a lawsuit.
I mention this because Phelps Dunbar is evidently representing both the Parish and former interim Parish President Steve Theriot. You see folks, Continue reading “A man can not serve two masters: A pair of stories to illustrate the point.”