Three years ago I repeatedly tried to get information on the Ed Peters immunity deal with the Department of Justice. I wrote about my unsuccessful attempts here, here, here and here. Eventually, I gave up because: (1) beating your head against a wall kind of hurts; and (2) retired federal prosecutor Tom Dawson disclosed and explained Peters’ … Continue Reading
Earlier today while writing a post that will appear tomorrow, I wondered about the timing of how the Eaton-Peters saga fit into, for lack of a better description, Scruggs-gate. This afternoon NMC has the answer here. It’s fascinating to see what was happening as the feds lowered the boom. Check out this insight by NMC … Continue Reading
Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Jeff Weill has issued a 123-page opinion citing extensive new evidence that Eaton Corp. and its lawyers knew that Ed Peters was improperly influencing Judge Bobby DeLaughter and then tried to cover it up. Allison Grant of the Cleveland Plain Dealer has the story, which allows viewing of the order. … Continue Reading
Alison Grant had a lengthy article Sunday in the Plain Dealer on the Eaton v. Frisby case. Here is the article. Jackson attorney Cliff Johnson is extensively quoted in the article: Johnson said anything the engineers took out of the Eaton plant was material they had permission to remove, such as data they occasionally consulted … Continue Reading
It’s official. Eaton canned lead outside law firm Quarles & Brady of Milwaukee in the Frisby litigation. Here is the motion to withdraw. This is not surprising. But why Eaton waited this long to distance itself from all the lawyers who touched the Ed Peters fiasco is one of the big mystery’s of the Frisby … Continue Reading
Here are some of the orders and pleadings from the Eaton v. Frisby litigation. I don’t currently have time to write about all of them, but they are interesting. Government’s Response to Motion for Production of 404(b) Material– states “Ed Peters is expected [by federal prosecutors] to testify that he was brought into the case by Eaton, not as counsel of … Continue Reading
Eaton Corp. has found religion. As I discussed 2 weeks ago, Eaton got into more trouble with Hinds County Circuit Judge Jeff Weill in the Frisby litigation over not producing emails. The emails contained reports from Ed Peters—who had not appeared in the case—on his efforts to influence Judge Bobby DeLaughter to help Eaton. Judge Weill ordered Eaton CEO … Continue Reading
Alison Grant with the Plain Dealer in Cleveland wrote an article on Eaton Corp.’s latest trouble in its Hinds County litigation against Frisby Aerospace. Here is the article. The article covers Hinds Circuit Judge Jeff Weills’ Order requiring multiple Eaton employees—including CEO Alexander Cutler—to explain why Eaton did not previously produce emails from Ed Peters … Continue Reading
Wednesday’s Clarion-Ledger contained this article about the City of Jackson settling a lawsuit with Cedric Willis, who was wrongfully imprisoned for 12 years. Willis was convicted of murder and armed robbery in 1997, but was later exonerated by DNA evidence. Willis alleged that the City of Jackson was at fault because a police officer lied … Continue Reading
That’s a question that was asked in this weekend’s Clarion-Ledger article by Jerry Mitchell following the unsealing of Ed Peters’ grand jury testimony [available here courtesy of NMC] in Scruggs-gate. The photo to the right is of Peters and Bobby DeLaughter. Now we know what they are smiling about. The article quotes Oxford lawyer and … Continue Reading
Alison Grant with the Plain Dealer (Cleveland newspaper) reported last week on two lawsuits recently filed against Eaton Corporation related to the Eaton v. Frisby litigation in Hinds County. The North Carolina Antitrust Case The first case is an antitrust case filed by Frisby (now called Triumph Actuation Systems) in North Carolina on February 1. … Continue Reading
Hinds County Circuit Judge Swan Yerger retired effective the end of 2011. Former Jackson City Councilman Jeff Weill was elected to replace Judge Yerger and inherited his docket. On January 4, 2011–-the day of Judge Weill’s investiture—Eaton Corporation moved to have Judge Weill recuse himself from the Eaton v. Frisby case. Eaton filed its motion under seal … Continue Reading
Perhaps the biggest legal development of the year in Mississippi happened today during what is usually the quietest weeks of the year for lawyers and the judiciary. Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Yerger unsealed an opinion today dismissing Eaton Corporation’s case against Frisby due to Eaton’s hiring Ed Peters to improperly influence Judge Bobby DeLaughter … Continue Reading
Surprise, surprise! After seven months, the DOJ denied my appeal seeking disclosure of Ed Peters’ immunity deal with the government. Here is the letter denying the appeal. Previous posts about DOJ’s refusal to disclose Peters’ immunity deal are here, here, here, and here. In the last of the above-linked posts I point out that former … Continue Reading
You can ask Madison-Rankin DA Michael Guest one question—what would it be? If you’re like me, it would be why hasn’t he prosecuted Ed Peters for conspiring to bribe Bobby DeLaughter? But if you’re Clarion-Ledger columnist Sid Salter, it would be questions like “what’s your favorite color?” Here is Salter’s Sunday morning with Michael Guest. Questions included soft-balls … Continue Reading
Saturday’s Clarion-Ledger ran this article on the Eaton v. Frisby case, focusing on the fact that most pleadings in the case are being filed under seal. When I looked at the file a few months ago there was no legitimate justification for sealing nearly the entire court file. Eaton—the party that hired Ed Peters—is behind all the sealed … Continue Reading
The book Kings of Tort, by Alan Lange and Tom Dawson, appears to disclose the terms of Ed Peters’ immunity deal with the government. On page 199, the book states that in exchange for immunity, “Peters would surrender his law license, resign from the bar permanently, and forfeit all monies received from Scruggs and Langston, in … Continue Reading
Shockingly, the government has another trick up its sleeve to stall on producing the Ed Peters immunity agreement. Taking a page out of Dean Smith’s playbook, the DOJ has gone into the four corners. Note: The four corners offense is an offensive strategy for stalling in basketball. Four of the players stand in the corners … Continue Reading
Once again the Justice Department refused to turn over Ed Peters’ immunity agreement. Here is the DOJ’s response. I received what appears to be a form letter like the one that DOJ sent last time, as discussed in this earlier post. But this time DOJ added a note on the last page: NOTE: We have received your letter … Continue Reading
Judge Davidson’s opinion authorizing the delivery of materials related to Ed Peters’ grand jury testimony in the DeLaughter criminal case to Judge Barbour (presides over Frisby employees’ criminal trial) and Judge Yerger (presides over Eaton v. Frisby civil case) has been reported on multiple sites. Here is the AP newspaper article, and posts by NMC here and here. There is … Continue Reading
Point of Law has this post about Governor Barbour speaking about the judicial bribery scandal in Mississippi. The original question appeared to be about tort reform, but Barbour worked in the scandal: BARBOUR: I don’t think it was related to the tort reform, but as you know, some of the more prominent plaintiffs’ lawyers in my … Continue Reading
A few weeks ago I made a Freedom of Information Act request to the Department of Justice seeking a copy of the government’s immunity agreement with Ed Peters. DOJ refused my request. Here is a copy of DOJ’s refusal letter. According to the DOJ, I am not entitled to the information because Peters did not … Continue Reading
Jimmy Gates at the Clarion-Ledger reports on a hearing yesterday in Eaton v. Frisby on the issue of whether the Peters-DeLaughter aspect of the case will be kept under seal. The more that this story develops the weaker Eaton’s arguments sound. The article summarized the party’s positions as follows: Frisby: But Alan Perry and Robert McDuff, attorneys … Continue Reading
The Clarion-Ledger contained two stories on Sunday about the controversial decision by the federal government to grant Ed Peters immunity in the judicial bribery scandal involving Judge Bobby DeLaughter. One is an opinion piece stating that Peters got off easy. The other article mentions the fact that Peters could still face prosecution, stating: But that doesn’t mean … Continue Reading
