Scruggs Defense - "Will No One Rid Me of ........"

The Dickie Scruggs trial could be the O.J. one of the 21st century.  Both mainstream [e.g. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL] and digital [Overlawyered.com] media can't get enough of every juicy detail.  What adds to the surging momentum in interest is that the insurance industry is also covering Bribegate on its internal and external media.

The part that is riveting the nation and perhaps the world [UK readers visit this blog regularly] is the apparent defense strategy.  It seems that Timothy Balducci, who is "cooperating" with the prosecutor, might have decided on his own to help out his boss Scruggs by offering the money to the judge.  This seems to be positioned and packaged as a playout of "Will no one rid me of ..."

The party line is that Balducci is an emotionally-challenged young attorney who wanted to endear himself to his hero Scruggs. He took it upon himself to do the deed and then flipped.

Just as in O.J., the influential and powerful are taking sides.  In this case it's legal author John Grishman who is providing a sort of ongoing character reference for Scruggs.  Grishman's mantra with the media is this whole enchilada "doesn't sound like the Dickie Scruggs I know."