It is not good when your alleged co-conspirators cop a plea and agree to testify against you.
Posted on 12/05/2007 12:26:27 PM PST by Zakeet
JACKSON, Miss. - An attorney has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bribe a judge and is assisting federal prosecutors in a case involving one of the nation's wealthiest trial lawyers, according to court documents.
Timothy Balducci entered the plea late Tuesday after initially pleading not guilty.
According to court papers, Balducci was accused of delivering $40,000 to a judge at the behest of prominent attorney Richard "Dickie" Scruggs for a favorable ruling in a civil case.
The case before the judge involved a dispute between Scruggs and other lawyers over $26.5 million in fees from a mass settlement of lawsuits that homeowners filed against State Farm Insurance Cos. after Hurricane Katrina.
Scruggs and the other attorneys appeared in court a week ago and pleaded not guilty to charges against them.
Scruggs, a brother-in-law of Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., earned millions from asbestos litigation and from his role in brokering a multibillion-dollar settlement with tobacco companies in the mid-1990s. His case against the tobacco companies was portrayed in the 1999 movie "The Insider," starring Al Pacino and Russell Crowe.
No sentencing date was set and Balducci was released on his own recognizance. The charge carries a five-year sentence.
It is not good when your alleged co-conspirators cop a plea and agree to testify against you.
Another collosal fraud perpetrated on the Courts....
L
Drive by Mississippi ping!
I wonder how many Mississippi judges are laying awake at night, sweating that their names do not come up during the trial.
I have long thought mere skill with the written word, knowledge of the law, expertise in oratory, and polished court room skills were insufficient to earn the fees and win the cases as is so often done by high profile lawyers.
Perhaps, this case gives a clue as to how it is really done.
If he was corrupt enough to bribe a judge, then he is certainly corrupt enough to bribe Mississippi legislators. I wonder whose campaigns he has contributed to over the years?
>> I have long thought mere skill with the written word, knowledge of the law, expertise in oratory, and polished court room skills were insufficient to earn the fees and win the cases as is so often done by high profile lawyers.
NO MORE PERRY MASON RERUNS FOR YOU!
:-)
Oops... “insufficient” to earn, he said. My bad!
What was the fraud? (clueless stay-at-home mom here)
This doesn’t look good for the Scruggs family. I was looking at this Balducci guy’s website the other day when this story hit FR, and I was impressed with his love for Faulkner. But that is all. I suppose I should refrain from stating my other impressions publicly regarding him and his partners in his firm.
Thanks for the ping
Interesting. The comments by the moron dems are indicative of how Scruggs and company got away with it for so long, and probably will continue to get McCoy reelected.
There is a type of asbestos which causes disease, but that type was never used in America.
That little fact didn't stop the trial lawyers, though.
L
{There is a type of asbestos which causes disease, but that type was never used in America.}
Bravo Sierra!! My father died of asbestos caused cancer. I have 25 years as a respiratory therapist. I’ve seen a lot of very sick people suffer and die from asbestos related cancers.
Educate yourself!
You have definitive proof that the asbestos caused his cancer? Did he ever smoke or was he ever exposed to radon?
Educate yourself!
I have....
L
it will be hard to convict Scruggs
the others will be easy
what a mess they have all created these past 20 years with their torts extortions
I don’t know anything about Balducci, either.
Wait...I do now!
He loves Faulkner. ;o)
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