Jackson Jambalaya

Gut reaction: Precious Martin's fee arrangement should be investigated by the Mississippi Bar, at a minimum. We're talking Dickie Scruggs money, doubled.

I don't have time to look back. Was Martin the Board Attorney at the time, or outside? Or maybe his wife was the Board Attorney. Either way, the Board itself should be held accountable to us taxpayers.

And a year later he claims he is too broke to pay his bills. What a loser.

His wife was the Board attorney. She steered all the money-making lawsuits to him. I guess as long as you have the right friends, you can get away with anything.

The crook at the center of all this is Lt. Robert Graham of the Jackson Police Department.

Graham used the Hinds County Board of Sups to shakedown Motorola. Plain and simple. Then has the audacity to carve out special treatment for Hargrove (5aiii).

Meanwhile Auditor Pickering picks his nose and the lint from his navel while looking right past the illegal no-bid professional services contract given to Airwave.

Jackson and Hinds County are a corrupt cesspool.

Are we certain he has actually passed the $1.5 million on to Hinds County?

I wonder how much Snooker and Boo Boo's cut was from Precious?

Crooks, Crooks, Crooks!!

Ka FUCKING ching! No wonder they tried to keep that hidden. THAT STINKS!

Why can't folk see that Motorola used a former Hinds County Deputy Sheriff and communications expert to shake down the county? That particular relationship is troubling. The Hinds President Charles Barbour is the other key to the conspiracy. He is a kinsman of the former Governor and a municipal water works player here. In other words a political operator and a shakedown artist himself.

The fee - admittedly high - is 40%. That flies if you go to trial. The problem is the ethical conflict.

Who wants to call Precious Martin on his radio show Friday night? See how fast he hits the button when ask about his healthy fee?

Now the question is.....

how much of the money did he get to keep?

If only there were an agency out there whose job it is to investigate the questionable activities of the leaders of these governing bodies. If only.....

" The fee - admittedly high - is 40%. That flies if you go to trial. The problem is the ethical conflict."

If I read the situation correctly, the fee would have been much less if the case did not go to trial. It certainly looks like this case went to trial for the sole purpose of inflating Martin's fee, since they immediately settled once it went to trial. Very suspicious.

11:35, that is not uncommon either. Suspect, but not uncommon.

Meanwhile; Ben Allen blew several gaskets Tuesday on Larry's radio show. The man is in bad and immediate need of anger management.

What bothers me is why , given all the " in house" lawyers throughout state and local government, we so often need to hire outside counsel.

Yes, I understand " specialities" and know that not all lawyers are litigators, but like with the tobacco case that could have been handled by the AG's office, too often hiring an outside attorney is simply a way to make sure the settlement money doesn't go to the taxpayers who are ultimately, the plantiffs.

Maybe a good start would be to make sure all legal fees are based on billable hours and that the fee is tied to the average hourly legal rate in the community in which the case will be heard.

It's not just that Precious got a big fee, it's that he spent so few hours working to get it. The leg work happened outside his office.

Kingfish @ 10:58

Yes, how much did he have to pay out as consulting fees to independent contractors. And how much did those share to complete the circle.

Not what I meant. I meant how much did he have to share with Doug, Robert, and George?

Katfish, do you have any facts at all to support your statement that Precious split fees with "Doug, Robert, and George?" If so, that would be a serious ethical violation and should be reported to the Bar. If you don't have any facts, and it's not true, then your comment would be libelous and subject you to being sued. Would you like to elaborate for everyone on your contention or retract it?

It does look like a Hinds County shakedown, but you guys don't understand the Barbour connection. Charles Barbour was Hinds board president. Haley is a communications player from the early days of the pager, wireless, et al revolution. As Governor he was getting all the emergency funds for the state wireless network. Charles Barbour and the Barbour Family LLC had a role in this don't you think?

Not what I meant. I meant how much did he have to share with Doug, Robert, and George?

And I'm sure they included this on their tax returns.....unless, it slipped their minds.

Which is what I said. I just explained how the money would have gotten to Doug, Robert and George indirectly.

Damn! All this legal talk is gonna make the Fish paranoid. You gonna have him postin' anonymously like the Kangaroo does now.

Attorney signs contract with client. Attorney gets paid exactly what he is owed under that contract. And the story is what exactly?

>>>Attorney signs contract with client. Attorney gets paid exactly what he is owed under that contract. And the story is what exactly?<<<

This exactly. What's the real reason it took so long for all these details to become public? Motorola is a private corporation, as is Northstar Wireless LLC.

Sooo, we have a conflict of interest (Precious' wife w/ influence on the board. Not an arm's length transaction.) Honest Services violations, bribery, fraud, and no telling what else a good lawyer or prosecutor could come up with. But, hey, all of these types of actions are expected and approved by the BOS.

October 25, 2013 at 9:07 AM

Go get a life, moron. And stop making out with your sister. That's illegal in Mississippi.

I think the last thing those crooks want is the KINGfish having all the discovery he wants from a slander suit. Remember, fat boy.. the truth is a great defense to slander.

Incest Expert @ 9:07: What proof do you offer to support your 'sister claim'?

Haven't commented at all. Have at it. I'm curious why it took court action for the information to be released.

>>>I'm curious why it took court action for the information to be released.<<<

Because there is nothing to see. Keep moving, nothing to see.

A secret settlement agreement to favor a private entity in purchasing agreed to by a public entity agreed to in settlement of a lawsuit?

Nothing to see at all.

Nice. Their mistake was not having Pickering investigating what they were doing.

Mississippi auditor seeks secret hearing in Sun Herald's attempt to get DMR records

http://www.sunherald.com/2013/10/25/5060268/state-auditor-seeks-secret-hearing.html

Nice work KF. I am going to donate. This is the only place I get real news. Thanks!

Pickering is in full blown political damage control since he let the DMR crooks off with a slap on the wrist.

He's proud of his record prosecuting wayward dog catchers and municipal sanitation workers taking too much time on ciggy breaks.

I am curious why it took court action also to release these records. What happened at St. Andrew's School?

Who was the trial judge?

Confidentiality of settlements is highly common. If the County or its attorneys turned the agreement over without a court order, they would have been in violation of the agreement, subjecting the County to a lawsuit and the costs associated with defending it. Now THAT would have been stupid. KF was within his rights to seek the agreement, the parties had the right (and obligation) to keep it confidential, and the court had the power to order it disclosed. And the the disclosure has revealed only that an attorney that many of you don't like (for reasons I'm SURE are all rational and non-biased) got paid exactly what he was supposed to get paid. This has Pulitzer written all over it.

1. I never said Mr. Martin did anything BUT represent his client. That agreement is a standard contingency fee arrangement.

2. Motorola did not object to my motion to intervene. Motorola did not object to my appearance in court nor did it appear in court.

The ONLY person who objected was Precious Martin. He didn't want anyone knowing how much he made off of this deal. Sorry, but he works for us. Period. He objected to intervention, he objected to my appearing in court, and he objected to providing the records. Why don't some of you clowns start asking why he was objecting so much when he really had NO place at all to object? It was Motorola's place to object, not Mr. Martin's.

3. This was a shakedown of Motorola. Ridgeland and Madison dealt with John Wilson of HCSO and Larry Fisher of EOC. There are emails, letters and invoices back and forth. SHould someone have drafted an MOU? Probably so. However, just because none existed does not mean anyone was stealing when the two cities, Motorola, and the county were working together to solve a problem.

The problem is the fact Hinds County can NOT communicate via radio with thee other jurisdictions. Some of you ignore that fact. Law enforcement goes into Rankin or Madison and vice versa, they can't communicate with each other. No one seems to care about that problem, of course. Graham can tear up all he wants while giving an officer down lecture but he sure doesn't mind putting officers in harms way when push comes to shove.

As I said, the two cities and Hinds County negotiated to purchase the same equipment. The two boards of aldermen voted to give Hinds the power to negotiate for them.

4. How come Hinds didn't sue Rankin and Madison for stealing? How come it didn't file a complaint with the State Auditor? If Hinds is telling the truth, they were the thieves, not Motorola. OH, that's right they had letters from Hinds telling them it was ok to use the system.


5. This settlement is what every company fears. Going into a county, running afoul of the power structure, and then facing some extortion. Not a black thing, see what happened to Aetna with Fred Harrell and Billy Bridges a long time ago. That was $5 million.

6. The issue here the entire time was that you, the taxpayers, had a right to see what your attorney's made. Period. Guess some of you attacking me don't believe in transparency and open government.