Well folks, you've been waiting for it. Here 'tis. Dickie and Zach are back in the public records spotlight.
Courtesy of our friends at
Slabbed, we find that "Non-Parties" Dickie and Zach are now
objecting to federal district court to revisit a magistrate judge's decision and
to issue a stay from the
document production bombshell laid upon them on May 15.
From the Objection . . .
…the documents that the Magistrate Judge ordered the Scruggses to produce all relate either to Cori and Kerri Rigsby or the conduct of Richard Scruggs and the Scruggs Law Firm.
These documents are of no relevance now that the Scruggs Law Firm has withdrawn from this case, the Court has disqualified all the former members of the Scruggs Katrina Group, the Court has excluded the Rigsbys as witnesses, and the Court has excluded the documents they uncovered while working for Defendant E.A. Renfroe & Co. (“Renfroe”)…
Their argument seems to be, "No matter how bad we screwed up legally, we should be excused because we have decided to drop the case (seeing as how we can no longer practice law because of how badly we screwed up)."
This is awfully slippery turf for the Scruggs boys. Dickie still has some potential outstanding criminal liability left (if you believe federal prosecutors) since Joey Langston took the express route to the courthouse to rat out his client and bestest buddy (Dickie) in yet another bribery scheme. Both Scruggs and his son still face sentencing for their admitted roles in bribing a state court judge to gain an unfair advantage in a lawsuit involving lawyers fighting over legal fees like a pack of rabid hyenas fighting over a carcass.
Though the Legal Advisory Division of YallPolitics cannot officially dispense legal advice, the braintrust was able to come up with one publicly deliverable bit of advice for the "gentleman lawyer" et. al.
DROP THE DAMN MCINTOSH LAWSUIT! (or at least get it dropped)
First of all, every plaintiffs lawyer in at least four states that can even spell D_I_C_K_I_E has already been disqualified from these cases. Secondly, one of the original McIntosh lawyers was the Scruggs' lawyer/consigliere, Mike Moore. You'd think they could at least pull that string to . . . uh . . . "make 'em an offer they can't refuse". Having to generate these documents will be a disaster for the Scruggs. That's pretty obvious because if it were "no big deal", they would have already done it and stayed out of the limelight. At a minimum, it will further tarnish their reputation at a time when Judge Biggers will have a lot to consider for sentencing. Worst case scenario is that it opens them up to even more criminal and civil issues.
The YallPolitics Nation needs to stay tuned on this one.
A big hattip goes to Slabbed for a very comprehensive post.
Posted May 28, 2008 - 10:37 pm
Friday, September 3, 2010
5th Amendment and self incrimination all thru this document.
“The Order should be set aside to avoid an unnecessary collision between compelled production, and the Scruggses’ rights against self-incrimination.”
“The Court should overrule the Magistrate Judge’s Order because the production of the requested documents may incriminate the Scruggses in connection with the action pending in Birmingham, Alabama or subject them to more severe sentence in the Oxford criminal matter.”
“The production of the requested documents would compel testimony from the Scruggses that could furnish evidence to prosecute them in connection with the Alabama action. The Renfroe matter is still pending in Alabama, and Judge Acker has already referred Richard Scruggs and the Scruggs Law Firm for prosecution once based on an alleged failure to produce documents. To require that the Scruggses now search their files and produce documents related to the Renfroe matter could require them to provide evidence against themselves for a further such prosecution. In particular, request no. 17 calls for all documents taken from State Farm’s computers; if such documents existed, the Scruggses cannot be required to produce them because such a production could serve as the basis for further prosecution by Judge Acker for an alleged failure to comply with his December 2006 injunction. Thus, the Court must reverse the Magistrate’s Order. Furthermore, the production of the requested documents could expose the Scruggses to increased penalties in the criminal case pending in Oxford.”
....all documents taken from State Farm’s computers; “if such documents existed”.... Are you kidding me? IF such documents existed?