The Fall of the House of Zeus (58 page)

6
Scruggs was accustomed …
Letter from Minor to Scruggs.

7
A few years later …
Scruggs testimony before grand jury.

8
During his grand jury …
Scruggs’s testimony before grand jury.

9
Minor and Scruggs …
Interviews with Scruggs, confidential sources.

10
A year later …
Interviews with confidential sources.

1
He had been exceedingly generous …
“Mississippi Madness: A Spat Over a Mansion Turns Ugly,” Michael Orey,
Wall Street Journal
, May 1999;
interviews with Dick Scruggs, Diane Scruggs, confidential sources.

2
Much of his spending …
Interviews with confidential sources; letters in support of Scruggs, filed with U.S. District Court, Northern District of
Mississippi.

3
In a startling act …
Interview with Robert Khayat.

4
Rex Deloach …
Interviews with Khayat, Dick Scruggs, Rex Deloach.

5
But he followed up …
Interviews with Deloach, confidential sources.

6
Among those …
Interviews with Sid Backstrom, confidential sources.

7
Another significant change …
Interviews with Dick Scruggs, Diane Scruggs, confidential sources.

8
Scruggs was approaching …
Interviews with confidential sources.

9
At the beginning …
Lott,
Herding Cats
.

10
South America …
Interviews with Dick Scruggs, Lowry Lomax, George Shaddock.

11
He wanted his son …
Interviews with Dick Scruggs, Zach Scruggs.

12
In many ways …
Interview with Zach Scruggs.

13
Before making the move …
Interviews with Zach Scruggs, Joey
Langston.

14
Though the tactic …
Interviews with confidential sources.

15
Scruggs wanted the best …
Interview with Deloach.

16
The visiting novelist …
The Raw and the Cooked: Adventures of a Roving Gourmand
, Jim Harrison (Grove/Atlantic, 2001).

17
Scruggs wanted nice art …
Interview with Deloach.

18
The Scruggses, père et fils …
Interviews with Dick Scruggs, Zach Scruggs, confidential sources.

1
Diane Scruggs …
Interview with Diane Scruggs.

2
Time
magazine …
“Sick of Hospital Bills,” Daren Fonda,
Time
, Sept. 19, 2004.

3
A federal judge …
Opinion by U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, Point of Law Forum,
Manhattan Institute, April 12, 2005.

4
Undaunted by the setbacks …
News release by Scruggs,
Patient
Financial Services Weekly Advisor
, Feb. 11, 2005.

5
Still, a big lick …
Scruggs interview in
Chief Executive
magazine, June 2002; “The Bribe,” Peter Boyer,
The New Yorker
, May 19, 2008.

6
Although they wound up …
Interviews with Charles Merkel,
confidential sources.

7
Merkel was known …
Interviews with confidential sources.

8
Said Sherlock Holmes …
“The Final Problem,” a short story by Arthur Conan Doyle,
Strand Magazine
, December 1893.

9
Said Merkel …
Interview with Merkel.

10
Contending …
Flow chart of Delmas Capital, LLC.

11
The psychic battering …
Interview with Diane Scruggs.

12
Scruggs had retained …
Interviews with Jack Dunbar, confidential sources.

13
In June 2005 …
Interviews with Merkel, Dunbar, U.S. Magistrate Jerry Davis; email from Timothy Balducci to John Jones, others, Oct. 27, 2004.

14
“What about the stock?” …
Interview with Vaughn Grisham.

15
The trial opened …
Trial transcript,
Alwyn H. Luckey v. Richard F. Scruggs, et al.
, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Mississippi, June 6, 2005.

16
Scruggs was prepped …
Interviews with confidential sources.

17
During nearly two weeks …
Trial transcript.

18
Scruggs took action …
Trial transcript; interview with Scruggs.

19
Merkel, who had been using …
Email from John Jones to Dunbar and others, Nov. 30, 2004; interviews with confidential sources.

20
Dunbar and Rex Deloach …
Interview with Rex Deloach.

21
But as Merkel …
Interviews with confidential sources.

22
As the case wound …
Interviews with Scruggs, Deloach, Joey
Langston.

23
In a July 8 …
Letter from Langston to Deloach, July 8, 2005.

24
Scruggs responded …
Letter from Scruggs to Langston, July 18, 2005.

25
Deloach was more blunt …
Letter from Deloach to Langston, July 20, 2005.

26
Doubting Langston’s claims …
Interviews with Scruggs, Deloach, Langston.

27
Diane Scruggs …
Interview with Diane Scruggs.

28
On July 20 …
Memorandum opinion by U.S. magistrate judge Jerry Davis, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Mississippi, July 20, 2005.

29
Scruggs was staggered …
Interviews with Dick Scruggs, Zach Scruggs.

30
Scruggs smoldered …
Interview with Merkel.

31
The setbacks …
Interview with Deloach.

32
A few days later …
Interview with Zach Scruggs.

33
Two days after Katrina …
Interviews with Dick Scruggs, Zach Scruggs.

1
Jones charmed his way …
Email from John Jones to Dick Scruggs, Danny Cupit, and others, Sept. 14, 2005.

2
Papers formalizing …
Joint Venture Agreement, In Re: Katrina
Litigation, Scruggs Katrina Group, Nov. 8, 2005.

3
Scruggs, as usual …
Interviews with Scruggs, Don Barrett, confidential sources.

4
Jones was bookish …
Interviews with Jones, confidential sources.

5
Tim Balducci had also served …
The Delta Italians
, Paul V. Canonici (Calo Creative Designs, 2003); interviews with confidential sources.

6
Tim Balducci never strayed …
Interview with confidential source;
Bolivar County statistics for 2000, U.S. Census Bureau.

7
As he said later …
Testimony by Balducci in hearing in connection with
U.S.A. v. Scruggs
, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Mississippi,
Feb. 20, 2008.

8
For Jones, bad news …
Interview with Jones; deposition given by
Jones in connection with
Jones, Funderburg, Sessums, Peterson & Lee PLLC v. Richard Scruggs, et al.
, Circuit Court of Lafayette County, Mississippi,
July 22, 2008.

9
In a move …
Deposition given by Jones.

10
Like Johnny Jones …
Conversation between Balducci and Judge Henry Lackey, recorded by the FBI, Sept. 21, 2007.

11
Tommy Cadle …
Telephone conversation between Balducci and Judge Lackey, recorded by the FBI, Sept. 18, 2007.

12
Driving in Oxford …
Conversation between Balducci and Judge Lackey, recorded by FBI, May 9, 2007; interview with Diane Scruggs.

13
Though the Georgia …
Conversation with Senator Joe Biden, August 2000.

14
Under the contract …
Joint Venture Agreement.

15
Barrett had doubts …
Interview with Barrett.

16
If Scruggs Katrina Group …
Joint Venture Agreement.

17
In the first blush …
Letter from Jones to Dick Scruggs, Dec. 11, 2006; interview with Jones, confidential sources.

18
Patterson had lived …
Interviews with confidential sources.

19
When a young woman …
Letter from Steve Patterson to Thomas D. McDonough, July 2, 20007.

20
Patterson’s letter …
Letters from Stephen P. Livingston to the
Mississippi Bar, July 11, 2007; July 19, 2007; July 26, 2007, with attachments.

21
Balducci responded …
Letter from Balducci to Livingston, Aug. 1, 2007.

22
Livingston dismissed …
Interview with Livingston.

23
When Jones walked …
Interview with Jones.

24
Barrett had tried …
Deposition given by Jones.

25
Barrett was annoyed …
Interview with Barrett.

26
At the outset …
Deposition given by Jones.

27
Scruggs, who seemed …
Interviews with Jones, Dick Scruggs, Zach Scruggs.

28
Driving from the meeting …
Interview with Jones.

29
His partner …
Email from Steve Funderburg to Dick Scruggs, March 4, 2007.

30
He turned …
Interview with Jones.

31
Cupit explained …
Interview with Cupit.

1
Grady Tollison …
Interviews with confidential sources.

2
In 1994 …
Interview with Grady Tollison.

3
During one …
“Ex-Head of Baptist College Pleads Not Guilty to Fraud,”
New York Times
, Sept. 23, 1994.

4
As one …
Interview with confidential source.

5
For such an unusual …
Interviews with Tollison, confidential sources.

6
Tollison had never …
Interview with Tollison.

7
Scruggs sensed …
Interview with Dick Scruggs.

8
There was one particular apostasy …
Interview with Tollison.

9
If the four sides …
Interview with Mike Moore.

10
Tollison’s animosity …
Interviews with Tollison, Scruggs.

11
Less than two weeks …
Jones, Funderburg, Sessums, Peterson & Lee LLC v. Richard Scruggs, Don Barrett, Scruggs Law Firm, Barrett Law Office, Nutt & McAlister, PLLC, and Lovelace Law Firm
, Circuit Court of Lafayette County, Mississippi, March 15, 2007.

12
On March 15 …
Transcript of testimony of Judge Henry L. Lackey in connection with
Jones, Funderburg v. Scruggs
hearing in Circuit Court of
Lafayette County, Mississippi, April 15, 2008.

13
Lackey signed …
Order signed by Judge Lackey sealing case, Circuit Court of Lafayette County, Mississippi, March 15, 2007; testimony of Lackey in April 15, 2008, hearing.

14
With the judge’s order …
Letter from Tollison to Scruggs and others, March 15, 2007.

15
Scruggs recognized …
Interviews with Dick Scruggs, Zach Scruggs.

16
On the morning …
“Law Firm Sues State Farm Opponent Scruggs,” Associated Press,
Clarion-Ledger
, March 28, 2007.

1
On the same day …
Interview with Zach Scruggs.

2
Everyone at the conference …
Interviews with Dick Scruggs, Zach Scruggs, Sid Backstrom, Joey Langston; Confidential Human Source (CHS)
Reporting Document of the FBI giving Tim Balducci’s account to agents of bribe to Judge Henry L. Lackey, Nov. 2, 2007.

3
Despite that possibility …
Transcript of testimony by Balducci in
hearing in connection with
U.S.A. v. Scruggs
, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Mississippi, Feb. 20, 2008; testimony by Judge Lackey in April 15 hearing; interviews with confidential sources.

4
Lackey had the appearance …
Interviews with confidential sources.

5
He described himself …
Boyer, “The Bribe.”

6
He handled …
Interviews with confidential sources.

7
Lackey seemed jolly …
Testimony by Judge Henry L. Lackey in April 15 hearing.

8
In the Baptist fashion …
Conversation between Lackey and Balducci, recorded by the FBI, May 9, 2007.

9
Only three days before …
“Lipstick on a Pig” advertisement in
The Clarion-Ledger
, March 25, 2007.

10
Before he left …
Testimony by Balducci in hearing, Feb. 20, 2008.

11
Baffled and offended …
Testimony by Lackey in hearing, April 15.

12
On the morning …
Interview with John Hailman; testimony by Lackey, April 15.

13
Hailman was an interesting …
Interview with Hailman.

14
Hailman closed the door …
Interview with Tom Dawson.

15
“Henry” …
Interview with Hailman.

16
The prospect …
Interviews with confidential sources.

17
A serious schism …
Interviews with confidential sources.

18
The bureaucratic clash …
“Request for Legal Opinion,” a confidential FBI paper sent to the “Director’s Office” by five agents, Sept. 22, 2004;
interviews with confidential sources.