Scruggs Nation, February 20: hearing day

March 17 remains the last day for plea bargains in USA v. Scruggs, and if the defense motions that will be heard at today's hearing don't succeed, I wonder if we'll start seeing some movement. Here are the pleadings filed yesterday:Here is the government's opposition to Sid Backstrom's and Zach Scruggs' motions for severance. This brief makes the point that statements in a November 13, 2007 recorded phone conversation between Balducci and Backstrom were taken out of context to make it sound like Backstrom had no clue about the Lackey bribe. Judge for yourself. Here is the Backstrom motion to sever, read paragraphs 18 and 19. And here is the full transcript of the call between Balducci and Backstrom, attached as an exhibit to the government response. Here is the government's respo