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"NEW ORLEANS (Legal Newsline) -- Lawyers for disgraced attorney Richard \"Dickie\" Scruggs on Monday asked the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to toss out his 2009 guilty plea to charges of bribing a judge.<br /><br />During Monday's arguments, Edward \"Chip\" Robertson Jr. and former Mississippi attorney general Michael Moore said Scruggs did not offer former-Hinds County Judge Bobby DeLaughter \"anything of value.\"<br /><br />Scruggs, who at the time was serving a five-year sentence after pleading guilty in 2008 to bribing Lafayette County Judge Henry Lackey, had said he would suggest DeLaughter be given a federal judgeship. Scruggs, 66, insists that was \"political speech.\"<br /><br />The government, represented by Robert Norman, argued that the suggestion of a federal judgeship has value.<br /><br />DeLaughter says he was not bribed, but he did plead guilty to improper communications about the Scruggs lawsuit. He served prison time, but it now free.<br /><br />Both DeLaughter and Lackey presided over Katrina-related legal fees lawsuits against Scruggs and others. Scruggs is free on bond while the appeal is considered. He's completed his sentence in the Lackey affair.<br /><br />The three-judge federal panel hearing the arguments are Chief Judge Charles Stewart, Judge Jerry Smith and Judge J.L. Wiener Jr.<br /><br />Last year, Scruggs argued that his guilty pleas in the two bribery schemes should be vacated.<br /><br />Scruggs, his son Zach, attorneys Sidney Backstrom and Timothy Balducci and former state Auditor Steven Patterson were charged in 2007 with attempting to bribe Lackey with $50,000 for a favorable ruling in a dispute over Hurricane Katrina attorneys fees.<br /><br />All five pleaded guilty, and Dickie Scruggs received a five-year prison sentence.<br /><br />It is also alleged that Scruggs paid $1 million to former Hinds District Attorney Ed Peters, who used to work with DeLaughter, to bribe the judge with the promise of a federal judgeship. Scruggs' brother-in-law is former U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, who resigned a week before the charges were filed.<br /><br />Dickie Scruggs pleaded guilty to the scheme, receiving an extra 2 1/2 years in prison. His attorney, Joey Langston, received three years when he pleaded guilty to the scheme.<br /><br />Known as an asbestos attorney, Dickie Scruggs gained notoriety when his work helped lead to the 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, which has an estimated worth of $246 billion for the 52 participating territories and states. Mississippi is not one of them, but has its own separate agreement.<br /><br />Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court said it wouldn't consider Zach Scruggs' appeal from the 5th Circuit. Zach Scruggs said he should be cleared of felony charges."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://legalnewsline.com/stories/510514788-scruggs-asks-5th-circuit-to-toss-guilty-plea>