National Roundup

Mississippi Scruggs seeks dismissal of conviction OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -- A former associate of imprisoned attorney Richard "Dickie" Scruggs has testified he opposed bribing a Hinds County judge because a friend of the jurist was feeding them information on a civil lawsuit over legal fees. The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports that the testimony of Steve Patterson, a former state auditor, came Monday in federal court in Oxford. Testimony continued Tuesday. Scruggs is serving a seven-year sentence. He pleaded guilty in 2008 to one count of depriving the citizens of Mississippi of honest services from Hinds County Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter. Scruggs has argued that the limits imposed by the U.S. Supreme Court on so-called honest services fraud mean no juror would today convict him of the crime to which he pleaded guilty. Prosecutors insist Scruggs broke the law when he promised to recommend DeLaughter for a federal judgeship. Scruggs said it was protected political speech. Patterson testified that he thought it was "insane," when he heard Scruggs agreed to telephone then-U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., to contact DeLaughter about the judgeship selection process. "Why buy the cow when the milk's free," Patterson said, when asked why he reacted so negatively about Scruggs' call. "The cow," he said was DeLaughter, and "the milk" was his rulings in the legal fees lawsuit. Patterson said that with the help of DeLaughter mentor Ed Peters, Scruggs' legal team was getting what it sought -- inside advice about how the lawsuit was progressing. Peters, who was subpoenaed to testify, did not because attorneys acknowledged he is so deaf that any attempt to question him in a courtroom would prove problematic for both sides. Both sides agreed to use Peters' FBI interviews and grand jury testimony as evidence to U.S. District Judge Glen H. Davidson. Patterson said it was Peters' idea to seek Scruggs' help through Lott for a federal bench nomination. "It was no secret that Bobby DeLaughter wanted to be a federal judge -- everybody who knew him knew that," Patterson said. Lott testified for about an hour Monday. He said he never gave DeLaughter any illusions DeLaughter would be suggested for a federal judgeship. Of Scruggs, Lott said "he was not somebody I consulted" because they held different viewpoints about appointments. Lott said most of the Mississippi judicial appointments during this time were attorneys he or Sen. Thad Cochran had had on their short lists for a long time. He recalled a conversation with Scruggs about DeLaughter's interest in a judgeship and agreed to make a courtesy call, which he did later that day in late March 2006. Lott said nothing was offered to DeLaughter. Patterson said from the beginning of Peters' association with them on the legal fees case, the former Hinds County district attorney insisted that his former protege, DeLaughter, "would follow the law" wherever it took the lawsuit. Connecticut New London settles wrongful death lawsuit NEW LONDON, Conn. (AP) -- New London officials have settled a wrongful death lawsuit accusing city police of failing to respond properly to escalating domestic violence incidents that ended with a fatal shooting. The Day of New London reports that the city recently agreed to pay an undisclosed amount of money to the survivors of David Romero, who was shot to death in September 2003. Police say Romero was the boyfriend of Ayfer Kaya, whose ex-husband critically injured her and killed Romero in the shootings in Kaya's home. Kaya's ex-husband, Kurtulus Kalican, is serving a 64-year prison sentence for the shootings. The lawsuit made several allegations, including that city police failed before the shootings to confiscate the gun used by Kalican despite a court order prohibiting him from possessing a gun. Louisiana Couple sentenced for attempted manslaughter JENNINGS, La. (AP) -- A couple accused in the beating and stabbing of a Silverwood man has been sentenced on attempted manslaughter charges. The American Press reports 19-year-old Tiffany Saucier of Welsh was sentenced to 15 years for attempted second-degree manslaughter in state court Monday. Her co-defendant, 33-yar-old Christopher Marshall Jr. of Lake Charles, was sentenced to 20 years for attempted manslaughter. Saucier pleaded guilty in November; Marshall was convicted in January. They were initially charged with attempted second-degree murder in the December 2010 beating and stabbing of Julian Broussard near his home east of Jennings. Prosecutors contend the couple was seeking revenge for the alleged armed robbery. West Virginia Court official requests probe of magistrate CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- A Kanawha County magistrate is the target of a complaint that asks a state panel to investigate allegations she dismissed cases in exchange for defendants doing favors for her. West Virginia Supreme Court administrator Steve Canterbury tells media outlets that he filed the complaint with the Judicial Investigation Commission after seeing news reports of the allegations against Magistrate Carol Fouty. Fouty declined to comment. In March, police charged Fouty's maid with driving under the influence. The woman was driving Fouty's car at the time. Fouty had hired the woman after she dismissed a drug charge against her. South Dakota Native American inmates challenging tobacco ban SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- Opening arguments were scheduled Tuesday in a federal lawsuit filed by a group of Native American inmates saying a state prison policy that bans the use of tobacco during religious ceremonies is discriminatory. The Native American Council of Tribes based at the state penitentiary in Sioux Falls wants the U.S. District Court to prevent the policy from being enforced. Inmate Blaine Brings Plenty said in the complaint that for Native American prayer to be effective, "it must be embodied in 'tobacco' and offered within a ceremonial framework." The state prison system went tobacco free in 2000 but made an exception for tobacco used in Native American ceremonies. It later reversed the exception, saying tobacco was becomingly increasingly abused and inmates were separating it from their pipe and tie mixtures. Published: Wed, Mar 28, 2012