JACKSON - Attorneys in Mississippi's judicial bribery trial are gearing up for closing arguments in a case that charges one of the state's most politically active lawyers with bribing a Supreme Court justice and two former judges.
Closing arguments begin Tuesday in the trial of attorney Paul Minor, accusing of offering cash for favorable decisions from Justice Oliver Diaz Jr. and former Gulf Coast judges John Whitfield and Wes Teel. All four defendants have pleaded innocent to federal bribery and fraud charges. Minor has pleaded innocent to an additional count of racketeering.
"We feel good about where things stand," said Robert McDuff, Diaz's attorney. "The evidence confirms that Justice Diaz never voted on Paul Minor's cases after Minor helped him in the 2000 campaign and never tried to influence any of his fellow judges in Minor's cases.
"While Justice Diaz has made mistakes, he never sold his vote to anybody and never should have been prosecuted. It is unfortunate they so cavalierly charged a Supreme Court justice with bribery when the evidence simply isn't there," McDuff said.
Prosecutors did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate in recent weeks dismissed solicitation of bribery and extortion charges against Diaz. Wingate said prosecutors failed to link Diaz to conversations in which Minor allegedly pressured two lawyers to donate money to Diaz.
The attorneys testified that they were concerned Diaz would vote against them on a Supreme Court case if they didn't hand over the money. Testimony revealed, however, that the attorneys did not pay and won the case anyway.
Diaz still faces four counts.
The central theme of the defense's case has revolved around claims of selective prosecution.
Defense attorneys have repeatedly said that Republican officials in Mississippi singled out Minor because of Minor's hefty contributions to Democratic causes.
They say U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton has a vendetta against Minor because Minor opposed Lampton's political aspirations. They claim Diaz was dragged into the investigation because he beat Lampton's friend and former colleague, Keith Starrett, in a 2000 bid for a seat on the Supreme Court.
Prosecutors have denied the claims of selective prosecution.
Minor's attorney, Abbe Lowell of Washington, produced a campaign disclosure form on the last day of testimony that listed a $470 contribution from FBI agent Kevin Rust to Starrett. Lowell claimed the contribution underscored the personal reasons behind the investigation.
Prosecutors, however, say greed and power prompted the investigation what they have called a lucrative scheme in which Minor padded the judge's pockets while collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorneys fees.
They say Minor used third-party campaign contributions and guaranteed loans to the judges in exchange for courtroom victories.
During the three-month trial, prosecutors called dozens of witnesses and tried to establish a link between cash withdrawals from Minor's account and interest payments made on loans he secured for the judges.
The original 16-count indictment was handed down in July 2003 but prosecutors expanded the charges in two subsequent indictments.
The indictment claims Minor, among other things, guaranteed loans totaling $140,000 to Whitfield and gave Whitfield money to pay off the loans. Whitfield later awarded a client of Minor's, Archie Marks, $3.75 million in a judgment against Diamond Offshore for an injury Marks suffered working on an oil rig. The judgment was reduced by $2 million by the Su-preme Court, a decision in which records show Diaz didn't participate.
Prosecutors allege Minor guaranteed a loan of $24,500 to Teel in return for favorable treatment on pending cases. Minor, through an intermediary, paid off the loan for Teel, according to the indictment. Teel subsequently oversaw a settlement conference in which a client of
Minor's was awarded $1.5 million and Minor got $594,000 in attorney's fees.
Prosecutors say Minor guaranteed a $75,000 loan and gave checks and cash to Oliver Diaz and his former wife, Jennifer Diaz, then used a third party to donate $45,000 to Diaz's campaign in 2000.
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