The Fall of the House of Zeus
Page 44
4 A lengthy 1999 profile … “Who’s Afraid of Dickie Scruggs?,” Adam Bryant, Newsweek, Dec. 6, 1999.
5 To extend his influence … Interviews with Scruggs, confidential sources.
6 The logical choice … “Ferris Displayed Amazing Public Education
Credentials,” column by Bill Minor, Clarion-Ledger, June 27, 2008.
7 But Scruggs’s “dark side” … Interview with Scruggs; “Tuck’s Amended Report Discloses Loan from Scruggs,” Bobby Harrison, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, July 9, 2003.
8 Abuses also ran rampant … Interviews with confidential sources.
9 Business interests … “Jackson Action,” op-ed piece by Charlie Ross, Wall Street Journal, Sept. 15, 2005; bulletins by American Tort Reform Association; “Mississippi Tort Reform in 2004,” memorandum prepared by Wells Marble and Hurst PPL.
10 After market research … “New Names, New Strategies,” Terry Carter, ABA Journal, Feb. 21, 2007.
11 One judge … Interview with confidential source.
12 Scruggs threw his own money … Interviews with Scruggs, Richard
Phillips.
13 A Jackson attorney … “Court Is Ignoring Juries: Victims Losing 100 Percent of Appeals? Is the Mississippi Supreme Court a ‘rubber stamp’ for powerful corporate entities?,” op-ed piece by Alex A. Alston, Jr., Clarion-Ledger, June 29, 2008.
14 With Big Business … The Appeal, John Grisham (Doubleday, 2008).
15 In 2000 … Interview with Scruggs.
Chapter 7
1 Their choice … Transcript of grand jury testimony by Richard Scruggs, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Mississippi, May 16, 2003.
2 Minor was often … Interviews with confidential sources.
3 After their meeting … Scruggs’s testimony before grand jury.
4 As GOP theoretician … Politics by Other Means, Benjamin Ginsberg and Martin Shefter (W.W. Norton, 1999).
5 In a move approved … “A Minor Injustice,” “Why Paul Minor?” and “Justice in Mississippi,” articles by Scott Horton, Harper’s, Autumn 2007; “The U.S. Attorney Who Wasn’t Fired: How Bush Pick Helped Prosecute Top
Democrat-backed Judge,” Larisa Alexandrovna and Muriel Kane, The Raw Story, April 1, 2008; “The United States Attorneys Scandal Comes to Mississippi,” signed editorial by Adam Cohen, New York Times, Oct. 11, 2007;
“Congress Probes Witch Hunts,” Adam Lynch, Jackson Free Press, May 28, 2008; appeal filed by Paul Minor in connection with U.S.A. v. Minor, U.S. District Court, June 30, 2008.
6 Scruggs was accustomed … Letter from Minor to Scruggs.
7 A few years later … Scruggs testimony before grand jury.
8 During his grand jury … Scruggs’s testimony before grand jury.
9 Minor and Scruggs … Interviews with Scruggs, confidential sources.
10 A year later … Interviews with confidential sources.
Chapter 8
1 He had been exceedingly generous … “Mississippi Madness: A Spat Over a Mansion Turns Ugly,” Michael Orey, Wall Street Journal, May 1999;
interviews with Dick Scruggs, Diane Scruggs, confidential sources.
2 Much of his spending … Interviews with confidential sources; letters in support of Scruggs, filed with U.S. District Court, Northern District of
Mississippi.
3 In a startling act … Interview with Robert Khayat.
4 Rex Deloach … Interviews with Khayat, Dick Scruggs, Rex Deloach.
5 But he followed up … Interviews with Deloach, confidential sources.
6 Among those … Interviews with Sid Backstrom, confidential sources.
7 Another significant change … Interviews with Dick Scruggs, Diane Scruggs, confidential sources.
8 Scruggs was approaching … Interviews with confidential sources.
9 At the beginning … Lott, Herding Cats.
10 South America … Interviews with Dick Scruggs, Lowry Lomax, George Shaddock.
11 He wanted his son … Interviews with Dick Scruggs, Zach Scruggs.
12 In many ways … Interview with Zach Scruggs.
13 Before making the move … Interviews with Zach Scruggs, Joey
Langston.
14 Though the tactic … Interviews with confidential sources.
15 Scruggs wanted the best … Interview with Deloach.
16 The visiting novelist … The Raw and the Cooked: Adventures of a Roving Gourmand, Jim Harrison (Grove/Atlantic, 2001).
17 Scruggs wanted nice art … Interview with Deloach.
18 The Scruggses, père et fils … Interviews with Dick Scruggs, Zach Scruggs, confidential sources.
Chapter 9
1 Diane Scruggs … Interview with Diane Scruggs.
2 Time magazine … “Sick of Hospital Bills,” Daren Fonda, Time, Sept. 19, 2004.
3 A federal judge … Opinion by U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, Point of Law Forum,
Manhattan Institute, April 12, 2005.
4 Undaunted by the setbacks … News release by Scruggs, Patient
Financial Services Weekly Advisor, Feb. 11, 2005.
5 Still, a big lick … Scruggs interview in Chief Executive magazine, June 2002; “The Bribe,” Peter Boyer, The New Yorker, May 19, 2008.
6 Although they wound up … Interviews with Charles Merkel,
confidential sources.
7 Merkel was known … Interviews with confidential sources.
8 Said Sherlock Holmes … “The Final Problem,” a short story by Arthur Conan Doyle, Strand Magazine, December 1893.
9 Said Merkel … Interview with Merkel.
10 Contending … Flow chart of Delmas Capital, LLC.
11 The psychic battering … Interview with Diane Scruggs.
12 Scruggs had retained … Interviews with Jack Dunbar, confidential sources.
13 In June 2005 … Interviews with Merkel, Dunbar, U.S. Magistrate Jerry Davis; email from Timothy Balducci to John Jones, others, Oct. 27, 2004.
14 “What about the stock?” … Interview with Vaughn Grisham.
15 The trial opened … Trial transcript, Alwyn H. Luckey v. Richard F. Scruggs, et al., U.S. District Court, Northern District of Mississippi, June 6, 2005.
16 Scruggs was prepped … Interviews with confidential sources.
17 During nearly two weeks … Trial transcript.
18 Scruggs took action … Trial transcript; interview with Scruggs.
19 Merkel, who had been using … Email from John Jones to Dunbar and others, Nov. 30, 2004; interviews with confidential sources.
20 Dunbar and Rex Deloach … Interview with Rex Deloach.
21 But as Merkel … Interviews with confidential sources.
22 As the case wound … Interviews with Scruggs, Deloach, Joey
Langston.
23 In a July 8 … Letter from Langston to Deloach, July 8, 2005.
24 Scruggs responded … Letter from Scruggs to Langston, July 18, 2005.
25 Deloach was more blunt … Letter from Deloach to Langston, July 20, 2005.
26 Doubting Langston’s claims … Interviews with Scruggs, Deloach, Langston.
27 Diane Scruggs … Interview with Diane Scruggs.
28 On July 20 … Memorandum opinion by U.S. magistrate judge Jerry Davis, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Mississippi, July 20, 2005.
29 Scruggs was staggered … Interviews with Dick Scruggs, Zach Scruggs.
30 Scruggs smoldered … Interview with Merkel.
31 The setbacks … Interview with Deloach.
32 A few days later … Interview with Zach Scruggs.
33 Two days after Katrina … Interviews with Dick Scruggs, Zach Scruggs.
Chapter 10
1 Jones charmed his way … Email from John Jones to Dick Scruggs, Danny Cupit, and others, Sept. 14, 2005.
2 Papers formalizing … Joint Venture Agreement, In Re: Katrina
Litigation, Scruggs Katrina Group, Nov. 8, 2005
.
3 Scruggs, as usual … Interviews with Scruggs, Don Barrett, confidential sources.
4 Jones was bookish … Interviews with Jones, confidential sources.
5 Tim Balducci had also served … The Delta Italians, Paul V. Canonici (Calo Creative Designs, 2003); interviews with confidential sources.
6 Tim Balducci never strayed … Interview with confidential source;
Bolivar County statistics for 2000, U.S. Census Bureau.
7 As he said later … Testimony by Balducci in hearing in connection with U.S.A. v. Scruggs, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Mississippi,
Feb. 20, 2008.
8 For Jones, bad news … Interview with Jones; deposition given by
Jones in connection with Jones, Funderburg, Sessums, Peterson & Lee PLLC v. Richard Scruggs, et al., Circuit Court of Lafayette County, Mississippi,
July 22, 2008.
9 In a move … Deposition given by Jones.
10 Like Johnny Jones … Conversation between Balducci and Judge Henry Lackey, recorded by the FBI, Sept. 21, 2007.
11 Tommy Cadle … Telephone conversation between Balducci and Judge Lackey, recorded by the FBI, Sept. 18, 2007.
12 Driving in Oxford … Conversation between Balducci and Judge Lackey, recorded by FBI, May 9, 2007; interview with Diane Scruggs.
13 Though the Georgia … Conversation with Senator Joe Biden, August 2000.
14 Under the contract … Joint Venture Agreement.
15 Barrett had doubts … Interview with Barrett.
16 If Scruggs Katrina Group … Joint Venture Agreement.
17 In the first blush … Letter from Jones to Dick Scruggs, Dec. 11, 2006; interview with Jones, confidential sources.
18 Patterson had lived … Interviews with confidential sources.
19 When a young woman … Letter from Steve Patterson to Thomas D. McDonough, July 2, 20007.
20 Patterson’s letter … Letters from Stephen P. Livingston to the
Mississippi Bar, July 11, 2007; July 19, 2007; July 26, 2007, with attachments.
21 Balducci responded … Letter from Balducci to Livingston, Aug. 1, 2007.
22 Livingston dismissed … Interview with Livingston.
23 When Jones walked … Interview with Jones.
24 Barrett had tried … Deposition given by Jones.
25 Barrett was annoyed … Interview with Barrett.
26 At the outset … Deposition given by Jones.
27 Scruggs, who seemed … Interviews with Jones, Dick Scruggs, Zach Scruggs.
28 Driving from the meeting … Interview with Jones.
29 His partner … Email from Steve Funderburg to Dick Scruggs, March 4, 2007.
30 He turned … Interview with Jones.
31 Cupit explained … Interview with Cupit.
Chapter 11
1 Grady Tollison … Interviews with confidential sources.
2 In 1994 … Interview with Grady Tollison.
3 During one … “Ex-Head of Baptist College Pleads Not Guilty to Fraud,” New York Times, Sept. 23, 1994.
4 As one … Interview with confidential source.
5 For such an unusual … Interviews with Tollison, confidential sources.
6 Tollison had never … Interview with Tollison.
7 Scruggs sensed … Interview with Dick Scruggs.
8 There was one particular apostasy … Interview with Tollison.
9 If the four sides … Interview with Mike Moore.
10 Tollison’s animosity … Interviews with Tollison, Scruggs.
11 Less than two weeks … Jones, Funderburg, Sessums, Peterson & Lee LLC v. Richard Scruggs, Don Barrett, Scruggs Law Firm, Barrett Law Office, Nutt & McAlister, PLLC, and Lovelace Law Firm, Circuit Court of Lafayette County, Mississippi, March 15, 2007.
12 On March 15 … Transcript of testimony of Judge Henry L. Lackey in connection with Jones, Funderburg v. Scruggs hearing in Circuit Court of
Lafayette County, Mississippi, April 15, 2008.
13 Lackey signed … Order signed by Judge Lackey sealing case, Circuit Court of Lafayette County, Mississippi, March 15, 2007; testimony of Lackey in April 15, 2008, hearing.
14 With the judge’s order … Letter from Tollison to Scruggs and others, March 15, 2007.
15 Scruggs recognized … Interviews with Dick Scruggs, Zach Scruggs.
16 On the morning … “Law Firm Sues State Farm Opponent Scruggs,” Associated Press, Clarion-Ledger, March 28, 2007.
Chapter 12
1 On the same day … Interview with Zach Scruggs.
2 Everyone at the conference … Interviews with Dick Scruggs, Zach Scruggs, Sid Backstrom, Joey Langston; Confidential Human Source (CHS)
Reporting Document of the FBI giving Tim Balducci’s account to agents of bribe to Judge Henry L. Lackey, Nov. 2, 2007.
3 Despite that possibility … Transcript of testimony by Balducci in
hearing in connection with U.S.A. v. Scruggs, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Mississippi, Feb. 20, 2008; testimony by Judge Lackey in April 15 hearing; interviews with confidential sources.
4 Lackey had the appearance … Interviews with confidential sources.
5 He described himself … Boyer, “The Bribe.”
6 He handled … Interviews with confidential sources.
7 Lackey seemed jolly … Testimony by Judge Henry L. Lackey in April 15 hearing.
8 In the Baptist fashion … Conversation between Lackey and Balducci, recorded by the FBI, May 9, 2007.
9 Only three days before … “Lipstick on a Pig” advertisement in The Clarion-Ledger, March 25, 2007.
10 Before he left … Testimony by Balducci in hearing, Feb. 20, 2008.
11 Baffled and offended … Testimony by Lackey in hearing, April 15.
12 On the morning … Interview with John Hailman; testimony by Lackey, April 15.
13 Hailman was an interesting … Interview with Hailman.
14 Hailman closed the door … Interview with Tom Dawson.
15 “Henry” … Interview with Hailman.
16 The prospect … Interviews with confidential sources.
17 A serious schism … Interviews with confidential sources.
18 The bureaucratic clash … “Request for Legal Opinion,” a confidential FBI paper sent to the “Director’s Office” by five agents, Sept. 22, 2004;
interviews with confidential sources.
19 In the meantime … Interviews with confidential sources.
20 In March … FBI report drafted by Philip H. Neilson alleging “Civil Rights violations, Intelligence Oversight Board (IOB) violations, and privacy violations” by the United States Attorneys Office, Northern District of
Mississippi, March 21, 2006.
21 Determined to keep … Interviews with Hailman, Dawson, confidential sources.
22 For several months … Interview with Dawson.
23 Despite these efforts … Interviews with confidential sources.
Chapter 13
1 In the beginning … Interview with Tom Dawson.
2 Using his own … Interviews with John Hailman, confidential sources.
3 Bill Delaney … Transcript of testimony by William Delaney, hearing in connection with U.S.A. v. Scruggs, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Mississippi, Feb. 20, 2008.
4 On May 4 … Telephone conversation between Judge Henry L. Lackey and Tim Balducci, recorded by the FBI, May 4, 2007.
5 He even had a cheery greeting … Meeting between Lackey and
Balducci, recorded by the FBI, May 9, 2007.
6 When he finally found … Telephone conversation between Lackey and Balducci, recorded by the FBI, May 21, 2007.
7 That same day … Letter, transmitted by fax, from Lackey to Larry D. Moffett and Grady Tollison, May 21, 2007.
8 He even concocted … Lackey testimony, April 15, 2008. Balducci
testimony, Feb. 20, 2008.
9 Though no one else … Interviews with Dawson, Hailman.
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