Hinds County Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter improperly communicated with former mentor Ed Peters in a $1 billion theft of trade lawsuit, based on e-mails and other documents, according to a court official’s report.
The development increases the scrutiny of DeLaughter, who has been suspended from the bench since late March pending a state Commission on Judicial Performance investigation into complaints against him.
In the report filed this month, Special Master David Dogan III recommended the e-mails and documents be produced as part of the Eaton Corp. v. Jeffrey Frisby lawsuit pending in Hinds County Circuit Court.
The FBI is investigating the Frisby case and others involving DeLaughter and Peters as part of a judicial bribery scandal that already has sent noted trial lawyer Dickie Scruggs to federal prison. The Eaton lawsuit doesn’t involve Scruggs.
Magnolia Tribune
