DeLaughter: Same names, different case
Peters, Langston, Balducci and Patterson all figure in a federal criminal probe involving former noted lawyer Dickie Scruggs’ attempt to bribe DeLaughter in a separate civil case.
In the trade secret case, Eaton Corp. alleges in the lawsuit that engineers who once worked for the Jackson company stole trade secrets for military contracts and gave them to Frisby Aerospace of North Carolina when they went to work there in 2002.
Frisby attorneys maintain rulings from DeLaughter began going in Eaton’s favor when Peters became one of Eaton’s attorneys. They won’t discuss getting depositions of Langston, Balducci or Patterson. But Alan Perry, one of the attorneys, noted in court Peters’ role in the other case involving DeLaughter. “It’s a similar pattern,” Perry said.
If Frisby attorneys can prove DeLaughter was improperly influenced by Peters and Eaton knew about it, Eaton’s lawsuit likely would be dismissed without ever making it to trial.
Some legal experts contacted by The Clarion-Ledger would not weigh in on the depositions, citing the complexity of the trade-secret case.
The motion for Langston’s deposition says, “Mr. Langston has vital information relevant to the litigation of this case. Mr. Langston was party to an arrangement by which Mr. Edward J. Peters, an attorney for the plaintiff in this, improperly influenced Judge Bobby DeLaughter, the judge formerly presiding over the present matter.”
Clarion Ledger
6/21/9
* Headline changed from Jerry Mitchell to Jimmie Gates, sorry for the error.
