Mississippi plaintiffs’ attorney Richard “Dickie” Scruggs has asked the Mississippi Supreme Court to dismiss a petition that seeks to take his license to practice.
Scruggs filed his motion on March 28, 10 days after the Mississippi Bar asked the court to disbar the Oxford, Miss. attorney following his guilty plea to a charge of conspiring to bribe a state judge.
Scruggs said in his motion that the Bar’s action was premature.
Similar petitions have been filed by the Bar against Scruggs’ son, Zach, and law partner Sidney A. Backstrom.
Scruggs and Backstrom have each pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Oxford to one count of the charge. Other counts were dropped. Zach Scruggs has pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony, which means he had knowledge of a felony but didn’t report it.
No sentencing dates have been set.
The elder Scruggs contends that although he pleaded guilty March 14 to a felony of conspiring to bribe a judge, the Bar will need to file a “certified copy” of his guilty plea.
The complaint should be dismissed, he said, because such a copy or order hasn’t been entered for his case.
He also said a federal judge has not yet accepted that plea.
Richard Scruggs, his son and three others were originally charged with conspiring to bribe a judge in a dispute over $26.5 million in legal fees.
While the Supreme Court makes the final ruling, the revocation of the license to practice law is standard in the case of a felony conviction, the Bar Association has said. Under the rules, Mississippi lawyers who are disbarred for a felony cannot seek reinstatement.
The Bar previously filed petitions with the Supreme Court to disbar two other attorneys – Joey Langston and Timothy Balducci.
Scruggs, Backstrom and Balducci admitted conspiring to offer Circuit Judge Henry L. Lackey $50,000 for an order Scruggs wanted the judge to issue in a dispute with another law firm over legal fees from Hurricane Katrina cases.
Langston admitted conspiring to bribe Hinds County Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter on Scruggs’ behalf in an unrelated legal case. That case, in which Scruggs is not a defendant, remains under investigation.
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Information from: Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, http://www.djournal.com
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Information from: Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, http://www.djournal.com
Topics Mississippi
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