JACKSON - A Virginia attorney testifying in a judicial bribery case said Wednesday he got the "Mississippi shakedown" when a wealthy Gulf Coast lawyer demanded he hand over $25,000.
Michael Miller of Arlington, Va., said not long after he won $15 million in a diet drug case in Mississippi in 2001, he met attorney Paul Minor at a party at the Silver Star Casino in Philadelphia, Miss.
Minor, who has won several landmark cases, is accused of bribing state Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz Jr., former Circuit Judge John Whitfield and former Chancery Judge Wes Teel. All have pleaded innocent to charges of bribery and fraud, and Minor has pleaded innocent to an additional count of racketeering.
Miller testified that Minor pulled him aside along with Neshoba County attorney Ed Williamson and told them to donate to an organization that Miller was not familiar with. Minor told Miller he had taken enough money out of Mississippi and it was time to give back, Miller said.
"(Minor) said, 'Make sure you get it to me by tomorrow,'" Miller testified. "I told my partner, 'I just got the Mississippi shakedown."'
Miller, who had worked with Williamson in the Fen-Phen diet drug case, said he called his office in Virginia and directed his partner to arrange the payment. Miller said he coughed up the money out of fear he'd have difficulty trying cases in Mississippi if he didn't pay.
Miller said Williamson told him that Minor was a good guy and that Miller should pay the money. Miller said Williamson paid as well.
The payment was made to Green Oaks Bed and Breakfast - a company owned by Diaz and his wife at the time, Jennifer Diaz. Jennifer Diaz was also named in the bribery scheme but pleaded guilty to lesser charges in exchange for her cooperation. She has not yet testified.
Miller said he did not know the payment was going to a company owned by a state Supreme Court justice and his wife.
Minor had guaranteed a $75,000 loan for Diaz. Prosecutors say Minor pressed other lawyers to pay off the debt. Minor's attorneys have said the money was a loan to a friend and a campaign contribution for Diaz's 2000 election.
Minor's attorney, Abbe Lowell of Washington, pressed Miller to admit he had too much to drink the night he met Minor and may have had a blurred recollection of the conversation.
Miller acknowledged he had too much to drink - four cocktails - but not so much that he didn't remember the conversation.
Meanwhile, Minor's assistant told the court Wednesday that she had been threatened with prosecution if she didn't cooperate and testify against her boss.
Janet Miller, no relation to the Virginia attorney, said she is an assistant for Minor.
She had been questioned by prosecutors on Tuesday and Wednesday as the government tried to lay out a timeline that would connect cash withdrawals to interest payments due on loans that Minor guaranteed for the judges.
On cross examination, Minor's attorney, Lowell, asked Janet Miller if she was nervous or stressed.
"I'm scared to death. I've been threatened by the government," Janet Miller said. "(U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton) told me that he would indict me as a coconspirator and I could sit at the defense table with Mr. Minor."
Janet Miller said she was ultimately granted immunity in exchange for her cooperation. She said she had never witnessed what thought was illegal behavior in Minor's law firm.
Lowell asserted that Lampton tried to further intimidate Miller by showing up in the courtroom during her testimony.
Lampton's courtroom appearances have been sporadic since defense attorneys claimed in pretrial motions that Lampton guided a grand jury to indict Minor because of personal and political differences.
Lowell had repeatedly claimed that Republican-appointed Lampton set his sights on Minor because Minor won a large settlement from one of Lampton's family members. Lowell also had claimed that Minor, a wealthy Democratic supporter, was singled out after Minor opposed Lampton's political aspirations.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Ainsworth, from the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section in Washington, has since said that the Justice Department, not Lampton, made prosecutorial decisions since before indictments were handed down almost two years ago.
Defense attorneys have acknowledged that Minor gave the judges money, but they say it was campaign contributions and help for Minor's old friends who had fallen on hard times rather than bribes.
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