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What are They Hiding?
Balch & Bingham stooge Judge Carole Smitherman has done a great disservice to the legal profession and Alabama Judicial System by refusing to unseal the record of the Newsome Conspiracy Case. The case does not involved a victim who was raped. The case does not involve a juvenile or youth offender. As one of Alabama’s top criminal attorneys who worked for the defense in the North Birmingham Bribery Case told us, Smitherman’s action in sealing the entire record is “extreme.” Since no jury will hear the case, no jury will be tainted. So we ask, what are they hiding? We…
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Bombshell: Smitherman Approves Redacted Attorney Fees Against Newsome; Keeps Case Sealed
The details of the invoices were mostly redacted to a degree that the description of the fees and work done were indeterminable. Some fees billed on the invoices and submitted were not even related to this case. Although the Queen of the Star Chamber Judge Carole Smitherman has ruled against Burt Newsome by approving Balch & Bingham’s summary judgment, she refuses to unseal the court records, even though the case is over in the lower court, according to an appeal filed with the Alabama Supreme Court. When Smitherman originally ruled to create the Star Chamber, the argument was that we,…
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In Memoriam and Balch’s Mop Up
Andrew “Andy2K” Campbell, who saw his boutique law firm Campbell Guin disintegrate and collapse last August, appears to have ended his relationship with former co-owners and settled the matter according to a court dismissal notice filed December 6, 2018. Andy2K, who represents Balch & Bingham in the Newsome Conspiracy Case, donated $2,000 to presiding Judge Carole Smitherman, the queen of the secretive Star Chamber, shortly before appearing as Balch’s new lead counsel. The updated Campbell Guin website shows that former 25% owners Bert M. Guy and Justin G. Williams (pictured above) are no longer at the firm although their back-end…
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Newsome Appeals Balch’s Summary Judgment
Over $30,000 in campaign cash to Judge Carole Smitherman and her husband State Senator Rodger Smitherman since July of 2017 has paid off handsomely. Apparently kowtowing to Balch & Bingham, Judge Smitherman, as expected, affirmed a summary judgment against Burt Newsome in the Newsome Conspiracy Case currently taking place in a secretive and unconstitutional Star Chamber, according to an appeal filed by Burt Newsome. Last month, the appeal was filed against Judge Smitherman’s bias and retaliatory decision with the Alabama Supreme Court. Reviewing the 44 retaliatory and sloppy orders signed by Smitherman attached to the Writ of Mandamus last June,…
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U.S. Congressional Investigations of “Massive Fraud”
U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the incoming chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, told CNN’s State of the Union yesterday there have been “several massive frauds against the American people. And it’s now our job, the job of the Justice Department…the special counsel, and the Congress to get to the bottom of this.” One massive fraud has been the abuse of the all three branches of government in the State of Alabama by using the “legal” system of pay-through contributions from the usual suspects to obtain access and signatures on cookie-cutter letters and official acts, while hiding behind non-disclosure agreements, attorney-client…
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State Attorney General Abdicates
During Thanksgiving week, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall parted ways with Matt Hart (pictured right), the most feared state prosecutor who took on public corruption and successfully convicted high-profile politicos and others. Only Jefferson County has had the intestinal fortitude to investigate further and indict Balch stooges Trey Glenn (who resigned from the EPA the day before Hart was sent home packing) and Scott Phillips. The state, we believe, will no longer even contemplate a probe of Balch & Bingham or Southern Company. And State Senator Rodger Smitherman, Judge Carole Smitherman, and the secretive and unconstitutional Star Chamber, we also believe,…
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Balch & Bingham’s Prophylactic Hypocrisy
[This post originally appeared on October 25, 2017. Over a year later, these actions have become a pillar in the civil RICO lawsuit to be filed next year and appear to demonstrate the manipulation of the Alabama judicial system. The legal doctrine of estoppel looks like it has been violated for Balch & Bingham’s benefit.] In February of 2015, when the Newsome Conspiracy Case was at its infancy, Balch and alleged other co-conspirators vehemently fought the sealing of the case. Balch attorneys wrote at the time: “While Plaintiffs couch their motion as a prophylactic measure to ‘protect’ the reputations of…
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What will Southern Company do in December?
A year ago today, Tom Fanning, CEO of Southern Company, personally called us and spoke about their commitment to “listening to the community” and wanting to hear our concerns about Balch & Bingham, the Newsome Conspiracy Case, and the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal. A year later, the entanglement of Southern Company in the Newsome Conspiracy Case has been solidly linked, and the civil RICO action and possible U.S. Congressional hearings to come in 2019 could only spell for further headaches and embarrassments for Fanning and friends. Tom Fanning, who we believe is an inherently good man, could pick up the…
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Newsome Conspiracy Case, North Birmingham Bribery Case, Secret Star Chamber, Southern Company, Spotlight on Balch & Bingham
Corrupt State of Affairs in Alabama
We returned late Friday from a very insightful and productive trip to New York City and Washington, D.C. Our high-level sources tell us that with the local Jefferson County indictment of Balch & Bingham stooges Scott Phillips and Trey Glenn, pressure on the U.S. Department of Justice to take a deeper look at the corrupt state of affairs in Alabama has escalated—especially now that Jeff Sessions was ousted. The reporting to prison of bought-and-paid-for politician and former Alabama State Representative Oliver Robinson is scheduled for next week and shows how a Balch & Bingham partner corrupted the legislative branch in…
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Living Well: Smitherman’s Bags of Cash
With the headline “Lawmakers raise millions while running unopposed,” Kyle Whitmire of AL.com reports: Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, raised $240,161, with about $110,000 coming after no one qualified to run against him. Under Alabama law, officials can use leftover campaign funds for any expenses reasonably related to the office. So what’s reasonable? That’s largely subject to interpretation and lawmakers often have imaginations as big as their campaign accounts. Plane tickets, car leases, new tires for a truck, dinners in Montgomery, dinners out of state, cell phones, laptops — the list is long. The point of all this is, special interest…
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Collapse! Andy2K’s Law Firm Disintegrates
Andrew “Andy2K” Campbell, who was named lead counsel on behalf of Balch & Bingham in the Newsome Conspiracy Case earlier this year, is now in the middle of an ugly fight, seeing his own boutique law firm, Campbell Guin, LLC, collapse and disintegrate. His former partners and owners at the firm allege that Andy2K “failed to comply with operating agreements….has failed to distribute funds due and has further failed to provide an accounting thereof,” according to a lawsuit filed against Andy2K in August. Andy2K was the manager of two LLCs affiliated with the law firm, but according to the suit,…
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Are Smithermans Cooperating with Feds? Ronnlund Acts Under Review?
One of our sources claims that Judge Carole Smitherman and her husband State Senator Rodger Smitherman are allegedly quietly cooperating with federal investigators. We have also recently learned that Robert M. Ronnlund’s alleged acts of criminal obstruction of justice, alleged alteration of evidence, and what appears to be acts of perjury by Balch & Bingham and the co-conspirators in the Newsome Conspiracy Case are under review. Earlier this summer, we asked our high-level contacts at the U.S. Department of Justice to have someone specifically review the Newsome Conspiracy Case. Now with a car break-in and threatening package sent to the…
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Glaring Impunity: Balch’s Star Chamber Hits One-Year
Balch & Bingham has suffered serious damage because of Balch’s own, self-inflicted mistakes. Tomorrow marks the one-year birthday of the secretive and unconstitutional Star Chamber in the Newsome Conspiracy Case foolishly pursued by Balch & Bingham at the height of two-federal probes last year. We have heard from and read commentary from respected jurists to deans of the legal community in Alabama, from anonymous observers to victims of Balch’s shenanigans. The bottom-line: the Star Chamber truly was the dumbest and most damaging legal maneuver for Balch to have pursued in the past decade. Unlike Balch & Bingham partner Joel I.…
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Balch Crony: The Dog Ate My Homework
How much horse manure will Balch & Bingham and their cronies disperse in an attempt to conceal unsavory if not criminal conduct? Reading the pleading from Robert M. Ronnlund, whose wife was a former partner at Balch & Bingham, explaining how the alleged criminal obstruction of justice happened in the Newsome Conspiracy Case is the worst excretion we have read to date and only raises more questions. Ronnlund sent a letter in early 2016 to AT&T falsely claiming that “an objection has been filed regarding the deposition subpoena” and added, “absent a valid court order, please do not produce any…
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Balch’s Plan
Exactly one year ago today, we wrote about Balch & Bingham gagging on their own lies and loss of control after they filed a motion that eventually lead to the creation of their own, private, secretive Star Chamber in Jefferson County, Alabama. A year later, Balch’s conduct in the North Birmingham Bribery Case is the talk of the legal community. Balch’s reputation appears to have been flushed down the toilet on Friday night. The corrupt web of influence, the buying of politicos, the hiring of consultants, the ghost-writing of letters, the use and abuse of our public institutions are all…
