Jennifer Diaz, ex-wife of Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz Jr., has struck a plea agreement with prosecutors and may become “a witness against him and others charged in a federal corruption probe”. “In 2000, Jennifer Diaz received a loan for campaign funds that was guaranteed by prominent trial lawyer Dickie Scruggs in the amount of $80,000,” but did not report the amount as income when Scruggs forgave the debt. Scruggs was not charged in the investigation, which led to indictments of the Diazes, prominent trial lawyer Paul Minor, and two former judges; trial on the charges “is set to begin May 9 in Jackson”. (Jerry Mitchell and Julie Goodman, “Judge’s ex-wife might be prosecution witness, officials say”, Jackson Clarion-Ledger, Apr. 26). See Feb. 22, 2004 and links from there.
Posts Tagged ‘Mississippi’
Update: Mississippi “60 Minutes” suit
More than two years ago (see Dec. 16-17, 2002), following a CBS “60 Minutes” installment exposing “jackpot justice” in Jefferson County, Mississippi, two former jurors struck back with an intimidating lawsuit against the network and two local interviewees. Now Ted reports at Point of Law (Mar. 4) that the Fifth Circuit has affirmed the suit’s dismissal by a federal district court; that court “assumed jurisdiction after it found that state defendants had been fraudulently joined in an attempt to defeat federal jurisdiction”.
Update: Mississippi pharma-suit scandal
Two more guilty pleas, which means all twelve of the Fayette residents arrested have now pleaded guilty. “More arrests are expected in six weeks in the FBI and IRS investigation.” Attorneys’ fees and expenses are said to have absorbed about $100,000 apiece of the $250,000 that each defendant received from the settlement fund, which would make $1.2 million in all reaped by the law firms and their helpers for representing the dishonest claimants. (Jimmie E. Gates, “Fen-Phen case expected to net more guilty pleas”, Jackson Clarion-Ledger, Feb. 12). See Jan. 9, etc.
Update: Miss. high court tosses $150M asbestos award
In a sign of changing times at the Mississippi Supreme Court, the court’s justices by a 5-2 verdict threw out a much-criticized $150 million award to six asbestos claimants whom defense attorneys said were hardly sick at all (Feb. 23, 2004). “The Holmes County jury awarded identical amounts of $25 million each to the six, despite ‘different work histories, different exposures and different diagnoses,’ Justice George C. Carlson Jr. wrote…. Justices Chuck Easley and James Graves dissented without writing separate opinions. Justices Mike Randolph and Oliver Diaz Jr. did not participate.” The court had been known for its willingness to approve unusual jury awards, but voters in the Magnolia State recently defeated the trial-lawyer-backed chief justice in his bid for re-election.
The ruling was also a huge victory for the 3M company, whose masks the plaintiff’s lawyers had assailed as insufficiently protective (see Sept. 25 for many details), and which had chosen to appeal the $150 million verdict (other defendants settled); the six plaintiffs “testified they hardly had worn the 3M masks”, and, wrote Carlson, “no plaintiff provided any evidence that he was exposed to asbestos while wearing a 3M product.” (Jerry Mitchell, “$150M injury ruling tossed”, Jackson Clarion-Ledger, Jan. 21).
Judicial Hellholes III Report
The American Tort Reform Association today released its third annual Judicial Hellholes report — ATRA’s report on the worst court systems in the United States where “‘Equal Justice Under Law’ does not exist.”
Here is the press release from ATRA. The highlights, including the top nine worst areas (seven counties and two regions — all of West Virginia and all of South Florida) and a salute to Mississippi for its tremendous and far-reaching tort reforms are on this page. The full report is in PDF format here.
But there may yet be hope:
Update: first jail time in fen-phen fraud
Mississippi: “A Fayette minister and a teacher are going to prison for their role in submitting phony Fen-Phen drug settlement claims in Jefferson County.” John Frye, a minister, and Lizzie Hammett, a teacher, are to report to prison Feb. 1 to begin serving sentences of one year and one day. There have thus far been six guilty pleas among twelve Fayette residents charged in a joint FBI and IRS criminal investigation of fraudulent claims of injury from the diet drug, many of which resulted in $250,000 payments from the drug’s manufacturers. (Jimmie E. Gates, “Two will serve jail time for role in Fen-Phen settlement fraud”, Jackson Clarion-Ledger, Dec. 3). See Nov. 14, Oct. 20 and links from there.
Mississippi high court overturns hellhole insurance verdicts
Why are some Mississippi courts considered judicial hellholes? Witness the trial of the breach-of-contract dispute between local insurance businessman Carroll Hood and his HICO versus St. Paul Insurance. HICO remained profitable after they agreed to reduced commissions and raised rates for selling St. Paul insurance (and there’s no indication why they thought St. Paul didn’t have the right to raise rates), but then turned around and sued St. Paul for “tortious breach of contract.” Though the contract required disputes to be litigated in Texas, the court permitted the case to go to trial, permitted the plaintiffs to add a new theory of liability in the middle of trial without warning, permitted $1.2 million damages to be awarded for “mental distress” over a contract dispute between sophisticated businessmen, and then allowed a jury to award $75 million in punitive damages–thirty times the already-inflated compensatory damages. (The jury actually wrote $75,000,000,000 on their verdict form, but the judge decided that this was a confusion over how many zeroes were in a million.) St. Paul also complained that the judge encouraged the jury’s bias against out-of-state companies. The Mississippi Supreme Court threw out the verdict on the easiest of grounds: the Mississippi court never had jurisdiction over the case because of the explicit forum selection clause in the contract being sued on. (AP, “Miss. Supreme Court Overturns $80 Million Breach of Contract Verdict”, Insurance Journal, Nov. 22; Jimmie Gates, “Justices toss out $77.5M jury award”, Clarion-Ledger, Nov. 25; Titan Indemnity Co. v. Hood opinion).
Another sign of hope: on September 9, in Gallagher Bassett Services, Inc. v. Jeffcoat, the Mississippi Supreme Court threw out a $3.5 million verdict against an insurance adjuster that negligently failed to pay an uninsured motorist claim (with a policy limit of $10,000) for all of ten months. If this trend continues, Mississippians might find that insurance companies can more affordably offer insurance.
Update: more guilty pleas in fen-phen fraud
“Five of 12 Fayette residents charged in a joint FBI and IRS criminal investigation have pleaded guilty, and one more is expected to plead guilty this week, U.S. Assistant Attorney John Dowdy said. … Each resident received a $250,000 settlement from the drug maker. Court documents show some of the defendants purchased automobiles, including a new Jaguar, and one bought a mobile home.” One of the defendants — not the one who bought the Jag — is described by her lawyer as just your ordinary Sunday School teacher. (Jimmie E. Gates, “Fraud pleas may mean jail, forfeiture”, Jackson Clarion Ledger, Nov. 7). See Oct. 20 and links from there.
Three guilty pleas in Miss. fen-phen fraud case
Not long after federal authorities arrested twelve Fayette, Mississippi residents on charges of fraud relating to the fen-phen settlement (see Sept. 1, 2004 and Oct. 3, 2003), three of the arrestees agreed to plead guilty and cooperate with the probe. All of the twelve “are accused of receiving at least $250,000 [each] in settlement funds through false prescriptions, netting about $150,000 after attorney fees and expenses.” (Jimmie E. Gates, “3 plead guilty in Fen-Phen probe”, Jackson Clarion-Ledger, Sept. 22). “A Jefferson County jury had awarded $150 million to five people who claimed fen-phen gave them heart and lung problems,” and there had followed a $400 million settlement with nearly 800 people nationwide. Included in that sum were high payments to many claimants from Jefferson County, which includes Fayette, who said they had taken the diet compound. (Denise Grones, “12 Charged With Fraud in $400 Million Fen-Phen Settlement”, AP/Law.com, Sept. 2). At least one of the twelve has protested her innocence and says she really did take the drug (Jerry Mitchell, “Fen-Phen arrests revive rap on county”, Jackson Clarion-Ledger, Sept. 5).
Another tidbit from the last-mentioned article: “A few years ago, the roof collapsed at the Family Dollar store in Fayette. A handful of people were shopping there at the time, but dozens who weren’t showed up in the emergency room for treatment.”
New at Point of Law
If you’re not reading our sister site PointOfLaw.com, you’re missing out on a lot. I’ve been doing about half my blog writing over there, on topics that include: a powerful new St. Louis Post-Dispatch investigation of asbestos litigation in Madison County, Ill. (here, here and here, with more to come, and note this too); the busy borrowings of Harvard’s Larry Tribe; when “not-for-profits” organize employment suits; Erin Brockovich’s respectability; crime without intent; experts and the CBS scandal; stay open through a hurricane, go to jail; suits over failure to put warnings on sand (yes, sand); West Virginia legal reform; Merrill Lynch/Enron trial; Hayek and the common law, reconsidered; getting creative about tapping homeowners’ policies; AdBusters sues to have its ads run; plaintiff’s lawyers represent criminal defendants to put drugmakers behind the eight ball; update on the law firm that competes on price; Spitzer and investors; Ohio med-mal crisis (and more); a welcome Schwarzenegger veto; dangers of firing your lawyer; ephedra retailer litigation; churchruptcies (if banks can do it…); and hardball in nonprofit hospital litigation.
Plus Ted Frank on tort reform in Mississippi and Jim Copland on California’s Proposition 64 (which would reform the notorious s. 17200 statute); the federal tobacco trial and Boeken; gender bias at work; and Rule 11 revival.
Better bookmark PointOfLaw.com now, before you forget.