Legal profession in MS shaken as Katrina victims wait

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Another lawyer pleads guilty

Booneville lawyer Joey Langston has pleaded guilty to corruption charges, admitting he tried to influence a Mississippi judge, sometimes with help from wealthy lawyer Dickie Scruggs, already indicted in the case, according to documents filed in federal court.

Langston, who recently withdrew as one of Scruggs' attorneys, entered the plea in front of U.S. District Judge Michael Mills in Oxford. Langston's attorney, Anthony Farese, could not be reached for comment.

The statement could shake the very foundation of the legal profession in Mississippi, said Oxford lawyer Grady Tollison, past president of the Mississippi Bar Association and president-elect of the Southeastern American Board of Trial Advocates. "Everybody I honor and respect is offended that anybody would try to corrupt the greatest system of justice in the world. I find it heinous."

Although what's happened could end up helping his clients who are suing Scruggs, Tollison said when he first heard the corruption allegation, "I felt like I was being punched in the stomach. Mississippi is once again made a butt of jokes. That offends me."

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The charges against Scruggs and others have complicated proceedings and may further delay the Katrina litigation.

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