JACKSON - The judicial bribery trial of state Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz Jr. and four others has been delayed until April 5, giving some parties in the case time to examine more electronic documents.
The trial had been scheduled for March 7.
U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate agreed to the delay after conferring Wednesday with attorneys in the case, Jackson attorney Robert McDuff, who represents Diaz, said Thursday.
Gulf Coast attorney Paul Minor, former Judges John Whitfield and Wes Teel, Diaz and Diaz's ex-wife, Jennifer, are accused of participating in a scheme in which Minor allegedly provided cash, loans, and gifts to the judges in exchange for favorable decisions.
All have pleaded innocent.
"Justice Diaz is disappointed that this case had to be postponed," McDuff said. "He would like to get this over with as soon as possible."
A spokeswoman with the U.S. attorney's office declined Thursday to comment on the delay.
The five defendants initially were indicted more than a year ago. A new indictment was filed by federal prosecutors in February 2004 charging Diaz and Minor with extortion, besides the fraud and bribery allegations.
Minor's attorneys have argued that prosecutors singled him out of hundreds of lawyers in Mississippi who have hosted fund-raisers for judicial candidates, donated money to judicial campaigns or guaranteed loans. He maintains he is innocent and so are other attorneys who did the same thing.
Several more motions are pending before Wingate.
Attorneys for the government and the defendants had requested e-mail documents from the Supreme Court and the state Court of Appeals, of which Diaz was once a member.
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