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Judge William Coleman will make a ruling today concerning whether the members of the Scruggs Katrina Group (SKG), which consisted of three other law firms, should be punished for the bribery overture conducted by Richard "Dickie" Scruggs and others.
During testimony Tuesday, Judge Henry Lackey revealed for the first time his role in catching Scruggs carry out a bribe for a favorable ruling in the fee dispute case. Scruggs also took the stand, but provided only his name before he pleaded the Fifth Amendment.
Lackey confirmed the facts of how he was bribed by Scruggs, who used Timothy Balducci as a go-between.
"I did not realize what a monster we were dealing with fully until now," Lackey said about Scruggs, "I realize what he has done to destroy our profession, more than anything in my lifetime."
The bribe overture took place between March 2007 and November 2007 when Scruggs was indicted.
During this time Lackey, took himself off the case because he was tired and frustrated with his role in the overture. However he put himself back on the case after speaking with FBI agent William Delaney.
"I was feeling like a lost ball in high weeds, did not know which way to turn, and wanted to bring this to a close if I could," Lackey said.
The FBI wanted Lackey to ask for money, but he was hesitant.
"They had encouraged me to ask for money, and I was reluctant. If Tim (Balducci) had said, 'No judge, you misunderstood me,' there I would be asking for a bribe. I was ambivalent about it, I'll tell you the truth," Lackey said.
Lackey eventually asked for money, which was paid in three different installments. The bribe was funded by SKG.
SKG was funded by David Nutt's law firm, Nutt and McAlister.
Scruggs sent an invoice to Nutts firm asking for payment of $750,000 for many different reasons.
The $40,000 paid to Lackey was part of the large invoice, Nutt testified today.
Nutt said he did not see the invoice and knew nothing of the bribe, but he hopes to get the $40,000 back.
Attorney against SKG, Grady Tollison of Oxford, argued all the Katrina group firms should all be sanctioned because they were a partnership and by law should all be accountable.
Former member of SKG, Jones, Funderburg, Sessums, Peterson and Lee filed the complaint against the others after feeling short-changed for their work on Hurricane Katrina litigation.
Oxford attorney Daniel Coker for the other SKG law firms argued that only Scruggs Law Firm should be sanctioned for the bribe.
Scruggs attorney Cal Mayo argued that his client tried only to earwig the judge, not actually bribe Lackey, and that the bribery overture occurred months after the attempted earwigging and was brought up by the FBI and Lackey, issues Scruggs hopes will lighten the possible sanctions or even convince the judge not to sanction him at all.
