Prominent Mississippi attorney Richard Scruggs has made news headlines again. This time, the headlines are focused on an indictment handed down yesterday by a federal grand jury, alleging that he and four others attempted to bribe a state judge assigned to hear an attorney fee dispute stemming from a settlement of Hurricane Katrina claims with State Farm Insurance Co.

Also named in the indictment are Scruggs’ son, David Zachary Scruggs, and Sidney A. Backstrom, both attorneys at Scruggs’ firm; Timothy R. Balducci, an attorney at Patterson and Balducci in New Albany, Miss.; and Steven A. Patterson, an employee of Patterson and Balducci.

As I reported earlier today in a bulletin news relase, the indictment, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, says the defendants attempted to bribe Lafayette County District Court Judge Henry L. Lackey to enter a favorable ruling for Scruggs’ firm, which was named as a defendant in the lawsuit involving $26.5 million in disputed attorney fees. The indictment claims that from March to November, the defendants conspired with one another to attempt to influence Judge Lackey so they could obtain an order in their favor.

The indictment says that Balducci had several conversations with Judge Lackey during which he offered to pay the judge for a ruling in favor of Scruggs and that Scruggs attempted to conceal his involvement by falsely creating documents to show that Balducci was hired to do jury selection work for Scruggs’ firm.  According to the indictment, Judge Lackey reported the attempted bribery to the FBI and cooperated as an undercover witness in its investigation.

The indictment claims that the five defendants first met at Scruggs’ office in March to discuss how to influence the outcome of the Jones lawsuit.  Balducci then allegedly made three cash payments from September through November to Judge Lackey and returned from his last meeting with the judge with a court order that was favorable to the defendants.

According to The Associated Press, Scruggs was released on $100,000 bail, while his son and Patterson were released on $50,000 bail. Backstrom is expected to be arraigned today, but there is no word as to when Balducci will be arraigned.

As expected, news of the indictment has sparked many comments from those the legal community, both for and against Scruggs. Stay tuned to learn how it all unfolds and, of course, feel free to post any thoughts or comments.