Maggio attorneys lose bid to quit case

Not until he’s sentenced, judge says

Two defense attorneys for former Judge Michael Maggio will not be allowed to withdraw from his case before he is sentenced on a bribery charge later this month, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

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Judge Brian Miller, ruling in U.S. District Court in Little Rock, denied withdrawal requests by attorneys Lauren Hoover and M̶a̶r̶g̶a̶r̶e̶t̶ ̶R̶e̶y̶n̶o̶l̶d̶s̶ Marjorie Rogers*, both of the Hilburn, Calhoon, Harper, Pruniski & Calhoun Ltd. law firm in North Little Rock.

Miller wrote in his order that he had advised the defense attorneys during a hearing last week after their first request that they would not be relieved until after sentencing even though he allowed Maggio to retain a third lawyer, James Hensley Jr. Since then, a second such request was filed.

Miller added that the defense attorneys may move to be relieved after the Feb. 26 sentencing.

Hoover and R̶e̶y̶n̶o̶l̶d̶s̶ Rogers* have not responded to requests for comment about why they want to withdraw. Their motions were sealed.

In January 2015, Maggio pleaded guilty and admitted that he had lowered a Faulkner County jury's $5.2 million award in a negligence lawsuit to $1 million in exchange for thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from a nursing home owner.

Maggio, 54, could face a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

In September 2014, the Arkansas Supreme Court ordered that Maggio be removed from his position as a circuit judge because of unrelated issues, including online comments he made about a legally confidential adoption case involving actress Charlize Theron.

Maggio's plea agreement with federal authorities implicated two other people -- a lobbyist and fundraiser, and the owner of a Faulkner County nursing home where a woman's death led to a negligence lawsuit. The agreement did not identify the two by name.

A lawsuit filed by the family of Martha Bull, who died in 2008 in businessman Michael Morton's nursing home in Greenbrier, is pending against Morton and former state Sen. Gilbert Baker, now a lobbyist. Baker, a Republican from Conway, helped raise money for Maggio's 2014 campaign for the Arkansas Court of Appeals.

The plea deal resulted from Maggio's handling of the previous negligence lawsuit filed by Bull's family against Greenbrier Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.

The current lawsuit contends that Morton and Baker conspired to funnel donations to Maggio's campaign in exchange for a reduced judgment in the negligence lawsuit. Morton and Baker have denied wrongdoing and have not been charged with a crime.

State Desk on 02/11/2016

*CORRECTION: Marjorie Rogers is one of former Judge Michael Maggio’s attorneys. Her name was incorrect in this article.

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