Former auditor to plead guilty
In a document made public Monday, former State Auditor Steve Patterson has agreed to plead guilty and testify that he schemed with Mississippi lawyer Dickie Scruggs and others to bribe a Lafayette County judge to rule in Scruggs’ favor in a lawsuit over attorneys’ fees. More than a decade earlier, while serving as state auditor between 1992 and 1996, Patterson called on state government to “Stop the Waste” and publicly questioned a deal the state made with Scruggs over fees in asbestos litigation.
The unsealing of Patterson’s plea agreement came days after Booneville lawyer Joey Langston – who up until last week was representing Scruggs in the criminal case – pleaded guilty to conspiracy. He told federal authorities he, Patterson and former Hinds County District Attorney Ed Peters split $3 million to influence Hinds County Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter to rule in Scruggs’ favor in a lawsuit over attorneys’ fees in a separate case. DeLaughter, an assistant under Peters, who stepped down as a district attorney in 2001, has said he never took a bribe in the case.
Jerry Mitchell
Clarion Ledger
1/15/8
Magnolia Tribune
