Feds expand bribery investigation
Agents are examining the relationship between DeLaughter and Peters, whom authorities have described as a “close friend” of the judge.
Booneville lawyer Joey Langston has pleaded guilty to his involvement in a 2006 scheme to get DeLaughter to rule for Mississippi lawyer Dickie Scruggs in a Hinds County lawsuit in which Scruggs’ former law partner, William Roberts Wilson Jr., was seeking about $15 million in attorney fees for asbestos litigation.
In that scheme, Peters received $1 million of Scruggs’ money, according to Langston’s plea agreement.
DeLaughter could not be reached for comment and has not returned numerous calls. However, he previously said he welcomes the investigation because he has nothing to hide and didn’t take a bribe.
In the two Hinds County cases drawing the latest FBI scrutiny, Scruggs played no role. DeLaughter heard both lawsuits. Peters served as an attorney of record in one case and assisted one side in the other.
FBI agents are asking questions regarding the lawsuit titled Mike Kirk v. Randy Pope and Dixieland Forest Products Inc.
Kirk had a sawmill and sued Pope after he failed to supply the timber for railroad ties as he reportedly agreed. In 2002, a Hinds County jury awarded $700,000 to Kirk, who had been in bankruptcy.
After the verdict, Pope hired new lawyers, including Peters.
In 2003, DeLaughter lowered Kirk’s award to $400,000, saying Pope’s trial counsel was inadequate.
In a separate lawsuit that wasn’t heard by DeLaughter, Pope’s attorneys sued that counsel for malpractice and received $275,000 in a settlement.
Kirk’s attorneys maintain in court documents that Pope had agreed not to dispose of assets, but did anyway – using 80 percent of this money to pay his new attorneys.
Peters received $125,000, despite making no court appearances or signing any pleadings, according to briefs filed by Kirk’s attorneys.
What Peters did do was contact DeLaughter at home in late 2003 and get him to stay the case and prevent Kirk from executing the judgment, according to court documents. Peters also persuaded DeLaughter to cancel a Feb. 6, 2004, hearing on a motion to reconsider, telling DeLaughter that Pope’s attorneys had abandoned their effort to push for this motion, according to documents.
In 2005, DeLaughter ruled in Pope’s favor, vacating his judgment from more than two years earlier and finding that Kirk had intended to conceal the jury award he received from the bankruptcy court.
Jerry Mitchell
Clarion Ledger
1/28/8
Magnolia Tribune
