Clarion Ledger – Zach Scruggs may appeal ruling

Clarion Ledger – Zach Scruggs may appeal ruling

Zach Scruggs may appeal a decision by a federal judge to refuse to throw out his conviction in a judicial corruption case.

His attorney, Chip Robertson of Jefferson City, Mo., said the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is “another level we can get to.”

In a ruling filed Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Neal B. Biggers denied the motion to vacate Scruggs’ conviction.

Scruggs argued that since the U.S. Supreme Court limited the scope of so-called honest services laws, he is innocent of a crime to which he pleaded guilty. The law says it’s a crime for a public official to deprive citizens of honest services while in office or to be involved in such a crime.

Clarion Ledger
8/3/11