Post by Logan on Jul 7, 2016 2:37:44 GMT -6
Nursing home bribery case details suspect judicial fund-raising
Plaintiffs made their case in a court filing this week that a civil suit should continue to trial over then-Judge Mike Maggio's 2013 reduction of a $5.2 million jury verdict in a nursing home negligence case to $1 million, a reduction he has since said he made in return for campaign contributions from the nursing home's owner.
Maggio, who was removed from the bench for other ethical violations, pleaded guilty in federal court to taking campaign money from an unidentified nursing home owner arranged by an unnamed intermediary, but has since attempted to withdraw the plea and appealed a judge's refusal to allow that.
The 2008 death of Martha Bull occurred in a Greenbrier nursing home owned by Michael Morton of Fort Smith and Morton has been identified as the source of campaign contributions for Maggio arranged by former Republican senator Gilbert Baker of Conway. Both have denied any wrongdoing, but the estate of Bull has sued them in civil court for taking action that led to the reduction in the verdict after a jury trial in July 2013.
Morton and Baker have asked that the case be dismissed and the plaintiffs' attorney, Thomas Buchanan, responded to that in a 31-page answer filed Monday in Faulkner Circuit Court that became available on-line today. It is accompanied by more than 500 pages of supporting material, including pre-trial depositions (sworn testimony) taken from Morton and Baker and others. The Buchanan filing says at the outset, "Michael Morton and Gilbert Baker, along with former judge Michael Maggio, have engaged and participated in a closed door tête-à-tête of electoral corruption, bribery and felonious abuses of public trust." In short, he alleges they conspired to achieve the verdict reduction.
Read more: www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2016/06/29/nursing-home-bribery-case-filing-details-judicial-fund-raising
Plaintiffs made their case in a court filing this week that a civil suit should continue to trial over then-Judge Mike Maggio's 2013 reduction of a $5.2 million jury verdict in a nursing home negligence case to $1 million, a reduction he has since said he made in return for campaign contributions from the nursing home's owner.
Maggio, who was removed from the bench for other ethical violations, pleaded guilty in federal court to taking campaign money from an unidentified nursing home owner arranged by an unnamed intermediary, but has since attempted to withdraw the plea and appealed a judge's refusal to allow that.
The 2008 death of Martha Bull occurred in a Greenbrier nursing home owned by Michael Morton of Fort Smith and Morton has been identified as the source of campaign contributions for Maggio arranged by former Republican senator Gilbert Baker of Conway. Both have denied any wrongdoing, but the estate of Bull has sued them in civil court for taking action that led to the reduction in the verdict after a jury trial in July 2013.
Morton and Baker have asked that the case be dismissed and the plaintiffs' attorney, Thomas Buchanan, responded to that in a 31-page answer filed Monday in Faulkner Circuit Court that became available on-line today. It is accompanied by more than 500 pages of supporting material, including pre-trial depositions (sworn testimony) taken from Morton and Baker and others. The Buchanan filing says at the outset, "Michael Morton and Gilbert Baker, along with former judge Michael Maggio, have engaged and participated in a closed door tête-à-tête of electoral corruption, bribery and felonious abuses of public trust." In short, he alleges they conspired to achieve the verdict reduction.
Read more: www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2016/06/29/nursing-home-bribery-case-filing-details-judicial-fund-raising