Judge grants prison return motion by Dickie Scruggs
Former famed Oxford ligitator Richard “Dickie” Scruggs asks to return to prison while his legal appeals play out in what’s called the Scruggs II bribery case.
Friday, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans rejected his legal team’s arguments and upheld his 2009 conviction for improperly influencing then-Hinds circuit judge, Bobby DeLaughter, who presided over a legal-fees lawsuit against Scruggs and others.
The government insists Scruggs tempted an ambitious DeLaughter with the promise of support to gain a federal judgeship.
Scruggs, 66, insists it was protected political speech, not a bribe, but the 5th Circuit rejected that argument. His team also pressed that “serious constitutional questions” arose from his conviction.
Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal
4/18/13
Magnolia Tribune
