More DeLaughter, Peters Entanglements Come To Light

In his guilty plea, Joey Langston admitted bribing a “close personal friend” of state Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter in order to influence the judge to resolve a case in favor of Dickie Scruggs; the friend has been widely identified as former Hinds County District Attorney Ed Peters (earlier). Undoubtedly as a result of the publicity, defense attorneys for Jeffrey Frisby in another case being heard by Delaughter (Eaton Corp. v. Jeffrey D. Frisby et al) have filed motions asking for an impartial review of DeLaughter’s decisions in that case after learning from “accidental e-mails” that Ed Peters has been advising Eaton behind the scenes even though he is not the attorney of record. The Frisby motions also claim that DeLaughter removed a special master from the case after Peters became involved because his rulings had been unfavorable to Eaton. Bobby Harrison’s Daily Journal story is here.

Jerry Mitchell’s Clarion-Ledger story today indicates that this case and others are now part of an expanded FBI investigation.