The Courageous Investigation of Paul Benton Weeks, III
Into Judicial Corruption in Alabama
Affidavit, Exhibits and 'Missing' Documents Available Here
A 2003 affidavit by a Missouri attorney alleging corruption by an Alabama federal judge provides a key both to the government’s Siegelman prosecution and to its unwillingness to investigate serious, documented allegations of government wrongdoing by prosecutors and judges alike. The affidavit was filed in Alabama’s federal court with 22 exhibits describing evidence of corruption by a the-new federal judge, Mark Fuller, who has since gone on to become promoted to chief federal judge for the state’s middle district and also to preside over the nation’s most famous “political prosecution,” that of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman.
Paul Benton Weeks, III, was the Missouri attorney who filed the affidavit, which outlines corruption unrelated to the Siegelman case and seeks Fuller’s recusal, impeachment and indictment on criminal charges.
Fuller recused himself promptly from the Weeks case and the Weeks affidavit has since disappeared from the federal government’s public files on the PACER electronic data retrieval system. Attorneys for Siegelman and his co-defendant Richard Scrushy have said they had no idea until after their sentencing in 2007 the document or the underlying corruption allegations existed against the judge, even though the allegations pertain to a financial conflict of interest defendants’ ultimately raised regarding his enrichment by some $300 million in federal contracts to Doss Aviation, Inc., which the judge controlled as its largest shareholder.
The unwillingness of congress, the Justice Department or the appeals courts to contact Weeks to investigate his corruption claims against the judge has since prompted nationwide news coverage but never a request by authorities for cooperation. Here is a copy of the extraordinary research that Weeks undertook in the affidavit and 22 exhibits. Harper’s columnist and law professor Scott Horton first reported the Weeks affidavit and its implications in 2003 Affidavit Raises More Serious Questions About Siegelman Judge (Harpers) Horton wrote:
In the affidavit, Weeks accuses Fuller of engaging in criminal conduct both before and after he came on to the bench. The charges include perjury, criminal conspiracy, a criminal attempt to defraud the Retirement System of Alabama, misuse of office as a District Attorney, and an obstruction of his background check by the FBI in connection with the review of his appointment by President Bush to the bench. (JIP faxed a copy of the affidavit to Fuller’s officebefore leaving a message asking for comment. No reply has been returned thus far; if/when Fuller does reply, this post will be updated.)
Weeks’s allegations were transmitted to Noel Hillman, the head of the Public Integrity Section at the Department of Justice, among other recipients. Hillman’s office has responsibility to conduct investigations into allegations concerning wrongdoing by federal judges.
This means that at the time that Fuller was presiding over the prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don E. Siegelman, a prosecution brought by Noel Hillman’s Public Integrity Section, he was or should have been the subject of an investigation by the Public Integrity Section. (Emphasis added.)
Andrew Kreig, writing for the Huffington Post in 2009, obtained the first interview with Weeks for an article entitled: “Siegelman Deserves New Trial Because of Judge’s ‘Grudge’, Evidence Shows….$300 Million in Bush Military Contracts Awarded to Judge’s Private Company,” (May 15, 2009) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/. In the front-page, nationally published article, Weeks reiterated that Fuller would be promptly impeached via even a cursory investigation, especially since impeachment has no statute of limitations. But Weeks said he’s never been contacted by an investigator on any level even though he is an experienced litigator who distributed nearly 60 bound copies of his findings to oversight officials in congress, the courts, the Department of Justice and bar associations. As of this writing, no news have ever been reported of an official investigation into the judge. He has however, denied wrongdoing or unfairness in the Siegelman case.