Legal Ethics
US Attorney Conspired to Force Miss. Judge Off the Bench, Lawsuit Contends
Posted Jun 24, 2009, 03:37 pm CST
By Martha Neil
A former U.S. attorney who was involved, while still in office, in an unsuccessful criminal prosecution of a Mississippi state court judge, also conspired behind the scenes with attorney disciplinary officials to bring false ethics charges against the jurist, a civil lawsuit contends.
Filed by former state Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz Jr. and his ex-wife, Jennifer Diaz, the newly unsealed federal litigation alleges that then-U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton of the Southern District of Mississippi invaded Jennifer Diaz' privacy by illegally obtaining her income tax and bank records. Lampton is also accused in the suit of conspiring with a member and staff attorney of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance to bring libelous ethics charges against Diaz in an effort to force him off then bench, reports the Jackson Clarion Ledger.
The suit, which is being pursued in Jackson, Miss., doesn't specify an amount of claimed compensatory and punitive damages. Diaz was a judge from 2000 to 2008, but lost his re-election bid.
Attorney Dennis Horn, who represents Lampton, says in court papers that the litigation is baseless.
Additional coverage:
Jackson Free Press: "Unsealed Suit Reveals Diaz Suing Lampton"
Sun Herald: "Suit between ex-judge, ex-U.S. Attorney goes public"