Judge Acker issued his Memorandum and Opinion today on Scruggs’s motion to release the cash “deposited with the Clerk as security pending appeal to E.A. Renfroe & Co. Inc. in satisfaction of the civil contempt sanctions entered against Scruggs and the defendants.” Also, the Rigsbys have filed a motion for a mediation order, today as well. Busy day in Alabama. The motion for a mediation order was suggested by the judge on Monday. The Rigsbys took him up on the offer.
I suspected that Judge Acker was waiting on issuing his order on Scruggs’s motion because he was going to have to do something reasonable but didn’t really want to. My guess was correct!
The court voiced its incredulity and its concern over granting the said motion without caveat. The court made clear that the motion will be granted only with the court’s disclaimer of any belief that there will remain any right by Scruggs and/or by the Rigsbys to appeal and/or to recover from Renfroe the amount of the satisfied judgment in the event of a successful appeal by anybody.
But he was extremely impressed with Scruggs and counsel’s brief filed with the Eleventh Circuit filed on June 19, 2008 quoted in the memo: Continue reading “Judge Acker grants Scruggs motion to release security to satisfy judgment begrudgingly”