Former Circuit Judge Michael Maggio's attorney will get three extra weeks to file a legal brief appealing Maggio's federal bribery conviction.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis agreed Wednesday to give attorney James Hensley Jr. more time but not the "several weeks" Hensley had requested. The brief was due Wednesday. It now is due May 26.
In requesting more time Tuesday, Hensley cited an array of health problems that he said he and his family have recently suffered.
"I have worked diligently and will continue to work hard to complete the Brief but will be unable to do so in the allotted time as my daughter was in the hospital for [seven] days in mid April," Hensley wrote. "My wife has been in and out of the emergency room for health issues and my own health has only recently stabilized."
U.S. District Judge Brian Miller, ruling in Little Rock, sentenced Maggio, 54, to 10 years in prison during a hearing March 24. Miller later agreed to let Maggio remain free pending the appeal.
Hensley said he has some assistance with the appeal, but it will take "several weeks" to complete. He said he has "yet to review all transcripts and the case law cited in some of the hearings."
Hensley said he had spoken with Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Peters and that the government objects to an extension beyond two weeks.
Maggio pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge in January 2015, then unsuccessfully sought to withdraw that plea earlier this year. His attorney has argued that the federal bribery statute under which Maggio was charged does not apply to Maggio.
Maggio was a judge in the 20th Judicial Circuit, which includes Faulkner, Van Buren and Searcy counties, when he admitted in a plea agreement that he took thousands of dollars in campaign contributions in exchange for lowering a Faulkner County jury's judgment against a Greenbrier nursing home.
That nursing home, owned by Fort Smith businessman Michael Morton, had been sued for negligence in the 2008 death of Martha Bull of Perryville. On July 8, 2013, Morton and his businesses donated thousands of dollars to several political action committees that later contributed to Maggio's since-halted campaign for the Arkansas Court of Appeals. On July 10, 2013, Maggio lowered the judgment against the nursing home from $5.2 million to $1 million.
Two of Bull's daughters have since sued Morton and lobbyist Gilbert Baker, who helped raise money for Maggio's campaign. That lawsuit accuses the two men of conspiring to funnel money to Maggio's campaign in exchange for the lowered judgment. The lawsuit is pending in Faulkner County Circuit Court in Conway.
Morton and Baker have denied wrongdoing and have not been charged with any crime.
The Arkansas Supreme Court ordered Maggio removed from office in 2014 over unrelated issues.
State Desk on 05/05/2016