Convicted of bribery, Maggio gets new attorney for appeal

Former Judge Michael Maggio is getting another attorney and more time to appeal his federal bribery conviction.

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The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis agreed Wednesday that criminal defense attorney John Wesley Hall could replace James Hensley Jr. of Conway as Maggio's court-appointed attorney, one comparable to a public defender who is paid by the government. Maggio, 54, was granted pauper status for his appeal earlier this year.

The appointment also means another delay. An order entered by the appeals court's clerk gave Hall until June 22 to file an opening brief, or document stating the basis for the appeal. The brief previously was due May 26.

In January 2015, Maggio pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge but unsuccessfully sought to retract that plea earlier this year. A key argument made by Hensley was that the federal bribery statute did not apply to Maggio.

Maggio's legal troubles began when he was a judge in the 20th Judicial Circuit, which includes Faulkner, Van Buren and Searcy counties.

In his plea agreement with the U.S. attorney's office in Little Rock, Maggio admitted accepting thousands of dollars in campaign contributions in exchange for lowering a Faulkner County jury's judgment against a Greenbrier nursing home. Owned by Fort Smith businessman Michael Morton, that nursing home had been sued for negligence in the 2008 death of Martha Bull, 76, 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 cut the $5.2 million judgment against the nursing home to $1 million.

Two of Bull's daughters have since sued Morton and lobbyist Gilbert Baker, a former state senator who helped raise money for Maggio's campaign. That lawsuit, pending in Faulkner County Circuit Court in Conway, accuses Baker and Morton of conspiring to funnel money to Maggio's campaign in exchange for the lowered judgment.

Morton and Baker have denied wrongdoing and are not charged with a crime.

The Arkansas Supreme Court ordered Maggio removed from office in 2014 because of unrelated matters, including online comments he made about a legally confidential adoption involving actress Charlize Theron.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Harris declined comment earlier this week on whether the federal investigation of any other people involved in the bribery case continues.

In trying to get Maggio's guilty plea withdrawn, Maggio's previous attorney, Hensley, at one point accused Maggio's first attorneys, Lauren Hoover and Marjorie Rogers, of ineffective counsel. Hensley did not pursue that argument further after U.S. District Judge Brian Miller ruled that Hoover and Rogers could reveal some previously confidential information they had exchanged with Maggio if Hensley continued with that allegation.

State Desk on 05/19/2016

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