DeLaughter avoids testifying; Ed Peters couldn’t be found
Suspended Hinds County Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter avoided testifying Thursday at a closed-door court hearing to determine if he was improperly influenced by former District Attorney Ed Peters in a $1 billion theft of trade lawsuit.
DeLaughter’s attorney, Thomas Durkin of Chicago, filed a motion saying that until they had a chance to review confidential documents in the case, his client wouldn’t be prepared to testify.
Circuit Judge Swan Yerger delayed DeLaughter’s testimony.
And Peters, who was DeLaughter’s boss in the 1990s when the judge was an assistant district attorney, was a no-show.
He couldn’t be summoned for the hearing because he couldn’t be located.
Attorneys in the case wouldn’t discuss the hearing because it involved matters filed under seal. Yerger said attorneys for both sides agreed it should be closed to the media and the public.
Clarion-Ledger 4/3/9
Magnolia Tribune
