Bar judge’s testimony, filing asks

It claims his opinion irrelevant in nursing- home bribery suit

CONWAY — Attorneys for the family of a woman who died in a Greenbrier nursing home are fighting to keep a retired federal judge from testifying in a corruption lawsuit against a lobbyist and the home’s owner.

Retired U. S. District Judge James Moody Sr.’ s opinions on the case are irrelevant to its facts, speculative and inadmissible legal conclusions, attorneys for the family of the late Martha Bull of Perryville argued in a motion filed Monday in Faulkner County Circuit Court.

Two of Bull’s daughters, Rosey Perkins and Rhonda Coppak, contend nursinghome owner Michael Morton and lobbyist and fundraiser Gilbert Baker conspired in 2013 to bribe former Circuit Judge Michael Maggio to lower a Faulkner County jury’s $ 5.2 million judgment against Morton to $ 1 million.

In a January 2015 plea agreement, Maggio admitted taking a bribe and implicated a fundraiser and a nursing- home owner, though not by name. Maggio has since appealed a ruling that he cannot withdraw the guilty plea.

Neither Morton nor Baker is charged in the bribery investigation. Both deny wrongdoing.

Attorneys for Bull’s family noted that Moody had said Maggio’s decision to reduce the judgment was appropriate under Arkansas law and that “any reasonable, impartial judge would have reached the same conclusion.”

“Regardless of the trustworthiness of such a statement, the appropriateness of remittitur [ the reduced award] is not at issue here,” the family’s attorneys said. “This case does not involve a remittitur decision by an impartial judge. This case involves the reduction of a jury verdict at the hands of a judge who has pled guilty to taking a bribe in exchange for his act of remittitur.”

“Maggio is one player in this corruption scheme,” they wrote. “The defendants in this case — Morton and Baker — are the others,” and their “unlawful influence” of Maggio “was the reason for the remittitur. … It simply does not matter if an impartial judge would have reached the same conclusion. The bribe, in and of itself, renders Judge Moody’s opinions irrelevant and unreliable.”

Part of the attorneys’ argument focused on damages a jury could level against Morton and Baker if it found the two men had been involved in the bribery. The jury then would decide if Morton’s and Baker’s conduct injured and damaged the plaintiffs, the attorneys said.

“Their [ Morton’s and Baker’s] felonious conduct, i. e., their role in the bribery scheme, took away property. They stole a specific amount of money from the [ Bull] Estate,” the attorneys wrote. “The amount is clear; it is undisputable.

“There is no need for an expert to tell the jury this amount. There is no need for an expert to tell the jury that another amount is more reasonable. Moody’s opinions on the appropriateness of remit-

titur will not aid or assist the jury in determining any issue before it.”

According to the motion Monday, Moody has said that had Maggio not lowered the $ 5.2 million award and had Morton’s nursing home then appealed, it would have been “more likely than not that” a higher court would have reversed the decision and ordered “some type of remittitur.”

The Bull family’s attorneys countered that Moody’s opinion was “guesswork and speculation” and “too far of a leap from the facts to be considered a reliable opinion.”

They added, “Expert testimony is admissible only when it is relevant, i. e., when it will aid a jury to understand evidence presented or to determine a fact in issue.” Sometimes, even relevant information is excluded because of “the danger of unfair prejudice” or other factors, they wrote.

“It does not matter what

an unbribed judge ‘ would have/ should have done’ or what would have happened on appeal,” they said. “Not only is there no need for Moody’s testimony; but also his testimony would only serve to confuse and mislead the jury about the issues in this case.”

Under court procedures, attorneys for Morton and Baker will get to file a response to the plaintiffs’ motion.

A federal judge has sentenced Maggio to 10 years in prison. The sentence is on hold during Maggio’s appeal.