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Paul Minor, Wes Teel, John Whitfield
Mississippi's Top Democratic Donor & 2 State Judges
Disputed 'Honest Services' Case Helped GOP
On March 30, 2007, a Mississippi federal jury convicted the state’s leading donor to its Democratic Party candidates and two former state judges of corruption charges, thereby capping a long-running Bush Justice Department prosecution that helped change the state’s politics. The prosecution of famed trial attorney Paul Minor, left, and the judges through two trials 
helped foster perceptions of corruption by Democrats. It was a factor in the election of former Republican National Committee Chairman Haley Barbour, below right, as governor in 2003 with 53 percent of the vote. Minor, the son of noted liberal Mississippi journalist Bill Minor, was a wealthy man from his law practice and most famous for victories against tobacco companies for failing to warn of health hazards. Minor was convicted of bribing state chancery court judge Walter “Wes” Teel and circuit judge John H. Whitfield, with each now serving lengthy prison terms.
helped foster perceptions of corruption by Democrats. It was a factor in the election of former Republican National Committee Chairman Haley Barbour, below right, as governor in 2003 with 53 percent of the vote. Minor, the son of noted liberal Mississippi journalist Bill Minor, was a wealthy man from his law practice and most famous for victories against tobacco companies for failing to warn of health hazards. Minor was convicted of bribing state chancery court judge Walter “Wes” Teel and circuit judge John H. Whitfield, with each now serving lengthy prison terms.The prosecution has a number of unusual features suggesting a selective and political prosecution. All Mississippi judges are elected, thus requiring donations that primarily come from attorneys. Yet authorities pursued this case with special vigor and harshness, requiring two trials to win convictions and obtaining immediate imprisonment of defendants pending appeal even though the issues are now pending at the U.S. Supreme Court. Prosecutors failed in two trials to convict co-defendant Oliver Diaz, a justice on the Mississippi Supreme Court, and knew even before the first trial in 2005 that Diaz had recused himself from any case involving Minor. Minor had even been imprisoned pretrial, a rare burden for a prominent white-collar defendant.
This prosecution gained national attention in 2007 after the House Judiciary Committee described the defendants in public hearings and the majority's final report on selective prosecution by the Bush Justice Department. A federal appeals court overturned several of Minor's convictions in early 2010. The remaining ones are premised on the “Honest Services” statute—a provision that has been widely criticized as ambiguous and potentially unconstitutional. Former Bush Administration U.S. Solicitor General Theodore B. Olson will represent Minor in his upcoming appeal to the Supreme Court.
Case Index
Allegations
Claims of Government Misconduct
Claims of Government Misconduct
Case Status
Selected News Articles
House Judiciary Committee Oversight
Trial Judge
Trial Judge
Prosecution & Filings
Defense & Filings
Defense & Filings
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