Organizers of a pantomime show in Norfolk say they are forbidding the bewigged Dame from throwing sweets out to kids in the audience, a cherished part of the Christmas tradition, lest someone get bonked on the noggin and sue. (“Panto stars banned from throwing sweets into the audience in case children get hit on the head”, Daily Mail, Dec. 6). To avoid an increase in its insurance premiums, a club in the West Midlands has been obliged to fit out Santa’s sleigh with a seat belt (“Health and safety killjoys force Santa to wear a seatbelt in his 5mph sleigh”, Daily Mail, Nov. 29). And: “The ‘snaps’ have had to be removed from more than 650 Christmas crackers being sent to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan because of regulations on the carriage of ‘explosives’. … ‘The troops will just have to go ‘bang’ themselves when they pull them,'” said an official. (“‘Bang’ goes cracker fun for troops”, Daily Telegraph, Dec. 12). Earlier similarly: candles carried in cathedral, workplace decorations, torchlight processions, carolers, puddings, pantomime themes, lighting displays.
Author Archive
Update: Mary Roberts convicted
“This was ordinary conduct that lawyers do,” said Roberts defense lawyer Alan Brown: “The only thing not ordinary is it was about sex.” Mary Roberts would arrange trysts with men, and then her husband Ted, who is also an attorney and has also been convicted, would demand cash from the men on threat of litigation, extracting $155,000 from four such victims, including one $70,000 check made out to the poignantly named Roberts Foundation for Children. (Mary Alice Robbins, “Solo Convicted in Sex Scam”, Texas Lawyer, Dec. 12). Earlier: Jun. 13, 2004, etc., most recently Dec. 7.
Scruggs indictment IX
Yes, it seems there were wiretaps. Defendants will be seeing evidence from the prosecution momentarily which might (or might not) be the trigger for further flipping and early plea deals, if such there will be.
There is enormous curiosity (e.g.) about P.L. Blake, to whom Scruggs says he paid $10 million (and tens of millions more in future payments) for vaguely described intelligence services aimed at swaying political influentials during the tobacco caper. Per a 1997 account posted at Y’All Politics, “Blake pleaded ‘no contest’ in 1988 to a federal charge that he conspired to bribe officials of the now-defunct Mississippi Bank to secure favorable loan terms.” The same article, citing reporting in the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, reports that Blake was in close phone contact between 1994 and 1996 with eventually-disgraced state Auditor Steve Patterson, who after leaving office went into partnership with Timothy Balducci and is one of the five indicted in the current Scruggs affair. Per AP, “Patterson was a banker at Mississippi Bank before his 1984-1987 tenure as head of the Mississippi Democratic Party.”
David Rossmiller, as so often, is out front with a report filling in background on two other controversies involving Blake. One arose from a venture into the grain storage business which landed him in a Texas dispute in which his attorney was none other than Fred Thompson, later a Tennessee senator and presidential candidate. The other arose from his cordial dealings with a former chief of staff to Sen. Trent Lott (R-Mississippi).
Harper’s blogger Scott Horton has now published his take, as is his wont heavily dependent on hush-hush (but no doubt wholly trustworthy) confidential sources who float all sorts of theories about scoundrelly doings by the highly placed. He winds up with a theory that would pull Sen. Lott into it (though with no allegation of criminality) by way of the Acker contempt matter, as distinct from either the Balducci/Lackey bribery attempt or, say, the Paul Minor affair. Of Horton’s many anonymously sourced speculations, the one that caught my eye was tucked into a footnote: “A law enforcement official I interviewed, who for professional reasons asked to remain anonymous, told me that Scruggs’s junior partner Sidney Backstrom might take the same road as Balducci.” Now that is news a rumor (more). (Update Tues. evening: Backstrom’s attorney Frank Trapp flatly denies that anything of the sort is in the works: Patsy R. Brumfield, “Backstrom firm on innocence, his attorney says”, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Dec. 12.)
This is probably a good place to apprise readers who aren’t aware of it that 25-odd years ago, while first gaining a footing in the policy world, I worked briefly on Capitol Hill drafting research papers for a committee then headed by Mr. Lott. We only talked a couple of times, I had never set foot in the state of Mississippi at the time, and I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t recognize me on the street, but if you’re a conspiracy theorist about such matters, there you have it.
At Y’All Politics, commenter “lawdoctor1960” has some speculation as to why the remarkable deposition of Scruggs in the Luckey case didn’t get more media or political attention at the time.
Welcome Andrew Sullivan, David Rossmiller, Y’All Politics readers.
Attorney Tim Balducci’s role as deputized lawyer for the state of Mississippi in the MCI and Zyprexa cases is drawing public scrutiny, and may result in pressure for reform of AG outside contracting.
We’ve started a new “Scandals” category for readers who want quick access to coverage of the Mississippi mess, also stocked with some earlier links to coverage of such earlier blow-ups as Milberg Weiss/Lerach, Kentucky fen-phen, the Paul Minor affair, etc. For those who are following Scruggs posts in sequence, be aware that yesterday’s first and second posts fell outside the numbering scheme.
Dickensian lawyering, on deaf ears?
“Retail store not liable for goose attack”
Rockville, Maryland: “A Montgomery County jury has rejected a negligence lawsuit brought by a woman who claimed she was attacked by a Canada goose while at a shopping center in 2004, causing her to fall and break her hip.” Suzanne Webster’s attorney said “the store made the situation worse by letting employees feed the geese.” (AP/WJZ.com, Dec. 10).
Madison Square Garden sex-harass case
Anucha Browne Sanders will get $11.5 million, including $4 million in legal fees, to settle her claim of misconduct by Isiah Thomas and others. The Garden did not keep quiet about its view of the result, calling it a “travesty of justice”. (Richard Sandomir, “Garden Settles Harassment Case for $11.5 Million”, New York Times, Dec. 11). Earlier: Oct. 2, Oct. 4.
Timothy Balducci, wannabe?
A major early theme of the Dickie Scruggs defense has been that fortyish attorney Timothy Balducci, who was “flipped” by the feds and is cooperating with prosecutors, and who has spoken of sharing with Scruggs knowledge of where there are various “bodies buried”, is a clueless newbie, a mere Timmy Tiptoes who sought to impress his elders in hopes of someday being admitted to their inner circle. Scruggs attorney John Keker used the “wannabe” epithet the other day, saying he didn’t think Scruggs and Balducci “were close at all”, and 
it had earlier come to mind as I sought to convey the tone of the WSJ’s Oxford Christmas party quotes. Let’s review, then, some of the revelations of recent days:
- As a former principal in the Langston law firm, one of the state’s best known, Balducci had been appointed individually to represent the state of Mississippi as a Special Assistant Attorney General in two high-stakes and politically sensitive matters, the MCI tax dispute and the litigation against drugmaker Lilly seeking reimbursement for outlays on the psychiatric drug Zyprexa.
- According to Alan Lange at Y’All Politics, the agreement from AG Hood’s office in the MCI case retaining the Langston Law Firm refers to “its principal members, Joseph C. Langston and Timothy R. Balducci”, and Langston’s own advertising at the time referred to the firm as being “anchored by longterm partners Langston and Tim Balducci”.
- Scruggs retained Balducci to represent him in the highly sensitive Jones lawsuit, which aside from demanding millions of dollars carried the prospect of laying open the financial arrangements of the Scruggs Katrina Group to a curious world.
- Earlier, Scruggs retained Balducci to represent him in the long-running and highly sensitive Alwyn Luckey fee lawsuit, which per the Times culminated in an eventual $17 million payout to Luckey. The opposing attorney who handled that case for Luckey, Charles M. Merkel, Jr., told the New York Times: “Balducci made part of the closing arguments in one of my cases, and they sat at the same table. When I was negotiating with them, it was generally with Balducci.”
- In the Luckey case, when Scruggs sat for the fantastically sensitive 2004 deposition in which he was obliged to unveil explosive details of how he spread around money to advance the tobacco-Medicaid litigation — the episode that made his national reputation and brought him plus-or-minus a billion in fees — the lawyer on hand representing him, and peppering the proceedings with continual objections, was Balducci.
- After Balducci struck out with former state auditor Steve Patterson to form an independent practice, his firm listed of counsel political and legal notables that included a former governor of the state of Mississippi and the former DA of the county that includes most of Jackson.
P.S. For those unacquainted with the Beatrix Potter reference, the eponymous gray squirrel in her story gets into trouble with his fellows: “Timmy rolled over and over, and then turned tail and fled towards his nest, followed by a crowd of squirrels shouting — ‘Who’s-been digging-up my-nuts?'”
Disabled accommodation of an alarming sort, cont’d
When you dial 911 from some new Verizon Wireless phones, it seems the phone itself emits an audible alarm. The telecom provider says it installed the feature to comply with federal law requiring that phone services be made “accessible and usable by individuals with disabilities”. Unfortunately, it has a disconcerting effect on users like a nondisabled Austin, Texas woman who dialed 911 because she feared she was about to have a close encounter with vandals on a vacant property she owned. The FCC says it does not require specific ways of meeting the accessibility mandate and that other methods besides audible tones might be found. (Clara Tuma, “Verizon customer calls phone alarm ‘dangerous'”, KVUE, Nov. 9). Reader L.S. writes that the story reminds him of the “Neckbelts” article in The Onion. We noted some years ago that strobe-light-equipped fire alarms, being pressed on government standards-writers as a way to alert deaf persons to emergencies, might prove dangerous to persons with photosensitive epilepsy, many of whom risk being sent into seizures by brightly flashing lights.
Flatley: false accuser is paying me $11 million
Turning the tables on an accuser: “Dance star Michael Flatley has won an $11 million settlement in the United States from a woman who falsely accused him of sexual assault and attempted to extort money from him, he said in a statement.” (“Michael Flatley floors floozy for fortune”, Brisbane Times, Dec. 10). We covered the original $35 million suit against the “Riverdance” impresario, and his later countersuit, on Sept. 14, 2004, Jul. 30, 1006, and Aug. 22, 2006. Needless to say, very few wrongful accusers are likely to have this kind of money on hand to pay over in response to countersuits; but per syndicated columnist Stacy Jenel Smith, the woman who charged Flatley with assault, Tyna Marie Robertson, “had dated other wealthy and well-known men through the years – relationships that sometimes ended in litigation”. (“Dark Side of Fame: Becoming A Target for Sex Charges, Lawsuits”, undated). More, including information on Robertson’s lawyer, D. Dean Mauro, at ABA Journal. Update/clarification Dec. 15: notwithstanding the erroneous use of the term “settlement” in last week’s press reports, OnPoint News makes clear that what Flatley actually got was a default judgment, and that Robertson is unlikely to have means to pay.
FBI searches Joey Langston offices
Yesterday’s sensational developments are covered at the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, Rossmiller, and AP/FoxNews.com. The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal quotes attorney Tony Farese, who among other connections to the principals represents Zach Scruggs, as asserting that the files taken relate to former Langston firm attorney Tim Balducci. However, some other reports, such as Sid Salter’s Clarion-Ledger blog, are indicating that the federal agents also removed files from Langston’s residence. (Update Dec. 12: Langston’s mother says these reports are erroneous, per Salter). Discussions are in progress at Y’AllPolitics and Lotus/folo.
Langston, a prominent figure on the Mississippi litigation scene, has been among lawyers representing Dickie Scruggs following his criminal indictment; the Sun-Herald notes that he also (with Balducci) represented Scruggs in the Alwyn Luckey fee dispute, known to be a topic of interest to federal prosecutors. Readers of this site may also remember Langston from the Foradori v. Captain D’s case two years ago, and more recently from the controversy over the MCI contigency-fee tax-negotiation case.