Patsy Brumfield asks “Quo vadis” and Jimmie Gates recounts DeLaughters and Peters in Kirk v. Pope

Patsy Brumfield and Jimmie Gates have day-of-the-plea DeLaughter stories.

In the Daily Journal, Patsy Brumfield asks “What’s next,” focusing largely on what’s going to happen in Wilson v. Scruggs. She writes:

- Will anyone else be indicted in this case?

- Will this second judicial bribery case in north Mississippi be the last related to DeLaughter or co-defendant and former attorney Richard “Dickie” Scruggs? …

Admissions by Scruggs, former Booneville attorney Joey Langston and others show Scruggs hired Peters for $1 million to make sure DeLaughter ruled with him in Wilson’s lawsuit over legal fees from national asbestos litigation.

Wilson claims he is owed millions, sanctions and damages for not being paid his due, as well as that Scruggs and his associates bankrolled Wilson’s fees into bigger cases with bigger returns.

His Hinds lawsuit is still alive, and he’s filed a similar federal lawsuit in the Northern District of Mississippi. …

Wilson v. Scruggs, the federal lawsuit, was put on ice July 14 until the DeLaughter criminal case was over.

The question becomes: Will that be today?

Gates focuses on the two other cases in the Judicial Performance Commission’s complaint against DeLaughter, noting that the guilty plea means that the commission will not have to resolve what happened in those cases.  He pretty thoroughly tells the story of Kirk v. Pope, which I wrote about extensively eighteen months ago back on Folo.  He also notes that the guilty plea by DeLaughter can come up at the August 12th meeting of the Judicial Performance Commission.  Gates writes:

Eric Stracener, an attorney in one of the cases pending before the judicial group, said Wednesday the complaints could become moot if DeLaughter enters a guilty plea.

One of the cases involves a lawsuit titled Mike Kirk v. Randy Pope and Dixieland Forest Products Inc., in which DeLaughter threw out a jury award.

Kirk, who had a sawmill, sued Pope after he failed to supply the timber for railroad ties as he reportedly agreed. In 2002, a Hinds County jury awarded $700,000 to Kirk, who had been in bankruptcy.

After the verdict, Pope hired new lawyers, including Peters.

In 2003, DeLaughter lowered Kirk’s award to $400,000, saying Pope’s trial counsel was inadequate.

Peters received $125,000, despite making no court appearances or signing any pleadings, according to briefs filed by Kirk’s attorneys.

Peters contacted DeLaughter at home in late 2003 and got him to stay the case and prevent Kirk from executing the judgment, according to court documents. Peters also persuaded DeLaughter to cancel a Feb. 6, 2004, hearing on a motion to reconsider.

In 2005, DeLaughter ruled in Pope’s favor, vacating his earlier judgment and finding Kirk had intended to conceal the jury award he received from the bankruptcy court.

Kirk insisted he had informed the bankruptcy court and appealed to the state Supreme Court. The state Supreme Court reversed DeLaughter and sent the matter back for a new trial on how much Kirk was due in damages. “The case is ongoing,” said Stracener, one of Kirk’s attorneys.

In the other case, Eaton Corp. alleges in a theft of trade secret lawsuit that engineers who once worked for the Jackson company stole trade secrets for military contracts and gave them to their new employer, Frisby Aerospace of North Carolina .

Frisby attorneys maintain rulings from DeLaughter began going in Eaton’s favor when Peters became one of Eaton’s attorneys.

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.

Eaton attorneys and officials have said the company hasn’t done anything wrong. They said if Peters did anything improper, it was without the company’s knowledge.