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Drummond, Newsome Conspiracy Case, North Birmingham Bribery Case, RICO, Spotlight on Balch & Bingham
Have Balch and Drummond Agreed to a Murder-Suicide Pact?
Let’s first talk about Drummond Company. We have no bones to pick with Drummond; we believe the company was given bad legal advice by Balch & Bingham; and before the criminal trial we even thought that David Roberson could be acquitted. Then six-months after his criminal conviction and Drummond’s vow to support a “man of integrity,” Drummond fired David Roberson and 12 days later his charity of choice. Roberson filed a $50 million civil lawsuit against Balch and Drummond. Roberson is now considering singing like a canary and he probably has a stockpile of dry powder that federal investigators would love…
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Bombshell: Balch Stooges in JeffCo Try to Screw Newsome with Incomplete Record of Appeal
In what looks like a deliberate attempt to carry out another unbelievable act of injustice in the Newsome Conspiracy Case, the Circuit Court Clerk of Jefferson County left out thousands of pages of responses and transcripts from Burt Newsome’s defense. In a motion filed today with the Alabama Supreme Court, Newsome’s legal team writes: In volume 30 of the record of appeal, document numbers 1358 to 2110 from the Circuit Court are missing. These records contain all of Appellant’s responses to the defendants summary judgment motions that were filed by the as well as some other pleadings. The transcripts from the…
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Merry Canary! More Alleged Corruption and Drummond Dollars
We called ex-Drummond executive David Roberson the Missing Link last week, and now there may be more acts of alleged corruption that Roberson can possibly confirm for federal authorities. As Josh Moon of the Alabama Reporter wrote in 2017: [In 2014, the] EPA wants to list the [North Birmingham] site on the NPL [National Priorities List]. ADEM [Alabama Department of Environmental Management], which is delegated to speak for the State, says it doesn’t object so long as the state doesn’t owe money. But then, in September 2014, after the EPA publicly announces its plans to move forward with listing the…
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Newsome Conspiracy Case, North Birmingham Bribery Case, RICO, Southern Company, Spotlight on Balch & Bingham
Is Alabama Power’s Crosswhite in the DOJ Cross-hairs?
In Alabama, the plantation mentality wants everyone to stay in their place and to accept the injustice or unsavory conduct—quietly. Even if you are a success story and not from the gentry class, the people with the plantation mentality won’t accept you, especially if you are African-American. If ex-Drummond Vice President of Government Affairs David Roberson sings to the feds, who will be hurt the most in this evolving Greek tragedy? Alabama Power. And who would be in the DOJ’s cross-hairs? Most likely Mark Crosswhite, the current CEO of Alabama Power and a former long-time Balch & Bingham partner. In…
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Scary Canary! Panic as Roberson–the Missing Link– Considers Singing to Feds
Our sources in Washington, D.C. tell us there has been panic since our post a week ago about ex-Drummond executive Dave Roberson who is now considering singing like a canary to federal investigators. Venable, the prestigious law firm out of Baltimore, that tried unsuccessfully to prevent the indictments of Balch & Bingham partners Steven McKinney and Joel I.Gilbert, is now out and about, hot on the trail. Our sources could not tell us who has contracted them (Balch? Drummond?). Our website traffic confirms the sheer depth of the panic: we had record traffic on Monday and Tuesday of last week,…
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Independence Day
Update from our post Tuesday about the shenanigans surrounding the over six-month delay in certifying the record regarding the Newsome Conspiracy Case appeal: In a swift and prompt rebuke of Balch & Bingham’s stooges, the Alabama Supreme Court issued an order yesterday extending Burt Newsome’s time to file his appeal brief until the end of July. The Newsome Conspiracy Case is not only an embarrassment to the once-prestgious silk-stocking law firm of Balch & Bingham, but to the entire Alabama judicial system because the Newsome matter appears to demonstrate blatant corruption, incompetence, and sheer injustice. Yesterday, the Alabama Supreme Court…
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Alabama Supreme Court Shenanigans
At 1:02 a.m. on Saturday, June 29, 2019, Burt Newsome was officially notified that the Clerk of Jefferson County had certified the record of appeal, six-months past the 28-day rule. As we reported, Balch & Bingham stooge Judge Carole Smitherman had her corrupt hand in the cookie jar behind this scripted delay of the appeal of the Newsome Conspiracy Case. In March, Smitherman even foolishly signed an illegal order granting the Clerk of Jefferson County more time to compile the record even though she, as a Circuit Court judge, had no authority to grant orders in a Supreme Court case.…
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Drummond, Newsome Conspiracy Case, North Birmingham Bribery Case, Southern Company, Spotlight on Balch & Bingham
Roberson Preparing to Sing like a Canary
Facing 30 months in federal prison, bankruptcy, the loss of the family home, and the insurmountable emotional toll he and his family have suffered, ex-Drummond Commpany executive Dave Roberson is prepared to talk with federal prosecutors about the intricate details of the North Birmingham Bribery Scheme. Roberson never testified in his criminal trial and has never told anyone outside legal counsel about the meticulous and unsettling details. Just a few months back, Balch & Bingham and Drummond Company were not concerned because Roberson’s criminal lawyers were paid by Drummond and Balch’s grip on Jefferson County including federal probes was solid.…
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Balch’s Wilted Flower Ripped to Shreds
During the criminal trial of Balch & Bingham partner Joel I. Gilbert last summer, Lance LeFleur, the Director of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM), became le fleur fanée on the witness stand. As we wrote last year: The words from the [witness] stand shows a web of politicians and paid goons who appear to be all intimidated or controlled by Balch & Bingham. Balch ran the operation, called the shots, and appears to have had everyone’s undivided attention. Yesterday, Kyle Whitmire ripped the Wilted Flower a new one: When Drummond Co. and Balch & Bingham pressured the Alabama Department…
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Rule of Hypocrisy and Laffy-Taffyland
The pleadings filed in the Dave Roberson’s $50 million lawsuit against Balch & Bingham and Drummond Company appear to show a desperate attempt by Balch and Drummond to twist the rule of law into a mound of Laffy-Taffy. As we mentioned earlier this month, Balch & Bingham appeared to show a complete lack of integrity when they omitted a key phrase of law. In a nutshell, Dave Roberson was not their client, and both defendants admit it. Thus, the Alabama Legal Services Liability Act does not apply because there was no attorney-client relationship, no contract. More importantly the six-month statute…
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Where Have We Been?
We missed you, dear readers. We have had an intense week: meeting in the halls of power on Capitol Hill, and with respected investigative reporters and criminal investigators. Regardless of what Balch & Bingham foolishly continues to do or say, the fact remains that the fat lady has not sung. The Washington Post article on Balch & Bingham was a lightening rod. Doors have swung open as people hear in disbelief the stories of Burt Newsome, a staged arrest, a corrupt Star Chamber, “fall guy” Dave Roberson, and the deceptive pleadings by Balch & Bingham that appear to show a…
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Balch’s Deception Allegedly Destroys Mountain Brook Family
Selling the family home. Contemplating bankruptcy. Attempting suicide twice. Destabilizing an autistic child. And the alleged cause of these troubles? Balch & Bingham’s deception. Dave Roberson, the ex-Drummond executive who was abruptly fired in February only months after Drummond Company publicly vowed to defend and support him, has mounted a $50 million civil lawsuit that has provoked a deep look at Balch & Bingham’s alleged misconduct. Ex-Balch & Bingham partner and convicted felon Joel I. Gilbert apologized to Dave Roberson during his criminal sentencing hearing. Why? Because Gilbert appears to have repeatedly lied to Roberson, and never had Balch’s ethics…
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Balch’s Gross Lack of Integrity Shines in Roberson Suit
With Balch & Bingham’s General Counsel Schuyler Allen Baker, Jr. seated anxiously in the front row of the public gallery, Balch & Bingham demonstrated a complete and gross lack of integrity last Wednesday before the court of Judge Tamara Johnson who is presiding over the $50 million lawsuit from ex-Drummond executive Dave Roberson. Balch stupidly filed a false pleading before the court arguing that as legal service providers Roberson had missed the statute of limitations under the Alabama Legal Services Liability Act and Balch’s Motion to Dismiss should be granted. Big problem is (and both Balch and Drummond Company have acknowledged)…
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Roberson’s Wife Attempted Suicide Twice
In a shocking revelation in open court today, ex-Drummond executive Dave Roberson’s wife Anna, who grew up in Jasper, Alabama attempted suicide twice because of her husband’s troubles allegedly caused by Balch and Bingham’s bad legal advice and Drummond Company’s alleged greed. The bad legal advice was central to the criminal case known as the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal in which ex-Balch & Bingham partner Joel I. Gilbert was sentenced to 5 years to federal prison while Dave Roberson was sentenced to 30 months to prison last year. Both men were found guilty on six federal charges including money laundering…
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Watch Out! $2,000 Bribe Lands Businessman 6 Months in Federal Prison
Breaking news tonight from AL.com: A California business executive was sentenced to six months in federal prison Tuesday for conspiring to bribe the former majority leader of the Alabama House of Representatives. G. Ford Gilbert, 71, paid former Alabama House Majority Leader Micky Hammon $2,000 to drum up support for a bill that would force Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama to cover diabetes treatment provided by his company, Trina Health. But the bill died in the 2016 legislative session after failing to advance out of committee. The judge overseeing the case ordered Gilbert to serve six months in federal…
