Bobby DeLaughter

Robert Burt "Bobby" DeLaughter Sr. (born February 28, 1954 in Vicksburg, Mississippi) is a former state prosecutor and then judge on the Mississippi Supreme Court. He prosecuted and secured the conviction in 1994 of Byron De La Beckwith, charged with the murder of the civil rights leader Medgar Evers on June 12, 1963. Two earlier trials in Mississippi in 1964 had resulted in hung juries.[1]

Career

On March 28, 2008, DeLaughter was suspended from the bench indefinitely by the Mississippi Supreme Court due to allegations of bribery and judicial misconduct.[2] On February 12, 2009, DeLaughter pleaded not guilty to a five-count federal indictment; these charges were linked to the criminal investigation of disgraced tort attorney Richard Scruggs.[3] On July 30, 2009, he pleaded guilty to one obstruction-of-justice charge.[4] On November 13, 2009, DeLaughter was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison by Judge Glen Davidson.[5] In keeping with the recommendation of his plea agreement, Judge Davidson did not impose a financial penalty on DeLaughter due to his negative net worth. He was incarcerated in the federal prison at McCreary[6] and was released on April 13, 2011.[7]

Representation in other media

In 1996, the events surrounding the De La Beckwith trial were memorialized in the Rob Reiner film Ghosts of Mississippi. Alec Baldwin portrayed DeLaughter in the film. In 2001, DeLaughter published his book about the Evers prosecution, entitled Never Too Late: A Prosecutor’s Story of Justice in the Medgar Evers Trial.[1]

References
  1. Erin D’Abramo (2008) [2002]. "Biography of Bobby B. DeLaughter". Mississippi Writers and Musicians Project, by Starkville High School. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
  2. "Suspension of Bobby B. DeLaughter". The San Francisco Chronicle. 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-04-04. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
  3. "NEWS Briefs May 20, 2009 - Daily Journal". 20 May 2009.
  4. Mississippi: "Judge Enters Plea" New York Times, July 30, 2009
  5. Wayne Drash, CNN (January 4, 2010). "Civil rights hero caught in corruption probe to begin serving sentence". cnn.com.
  6. "Inmate Locator".
  7. "Yall Politics - Bobby DeLaughter released from prison".


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