AG to head up oil spill litigation

Attorney General Luther Strange said Wednesday that his office has dismissed private attorneys brought in by his predecessor to handle a lawsuit related to the oil spill in the gulf of Mexico and that he will personally head up litigation related to the environmental and economic disaster.
Strange, in his second week in office, said he will be in New Orleans on Friday for a status hearing on the case before federal Judge Carl Barbier. He said the judge has the case on a fast track.
"We don't want to delay and we don't think BP wants to delay," Strange said.
The attorney general contends Alabama suffered more economic damage than other states due to the loss of tourism and related business on the coast and said the oil spill is his top personal priority.
"I think we've suffered significant damage," he said.
Strange said the case is being brought "in house" and that there are extremely well-qualified attorneys to handle it. The plaintiffs in the case include the federal government, the state of Alabama, businesses and others who have filed suit for damages to them.
Alabama is the only state that has filed a lawsuit against BP and other companies that are considered responsible for the oil spill.
While Strange, along with former Gov. Bob Riley, were early critics of the lawsuit filed by former Attorney General Troy King, Strange said Wednesday that it places Alabama "in a leadership role already."
"That was then. Now, I'm glad we're in court," Strange said.
Strange said BP has said they want to make the situation right.
"We're gonna hold them to that," he said.
Strange said they have not established how much Alabama lost due to the spill. He said they are working on those numbers.
"I think they're significant," Strange said.
Corey Maze, the special attorney general assigned to the oil spill, said there was an attorney in New Orleans on Wednesday taking depositions. In Alabama, they are working on the damages here, he said.
"Our job is to have our numbers ready," Maze said.
He said those numbers need to be ready in case BP wants to negotiate or in the event the case goes to trial.
"We will be prepared for a trial," Maze said.
When asked about a settlement, Maze questioned whether the defendants would want "to face an Alabama jury after what they did to Alabama."
Strange said he met with Kenneth Feinberg, who is administering the claims process, last week. He said he told Feinberg he was not happy with the situation and thought the claims process lacked transparency.
"I'm still very concerned about how he's handling himself," Strange said.
Strange said he hopes that it sends an important signal to the judge that this is a top priority for the state and its attorney general.

-- posted by Sebastian Kitchen

Strange says no to casino raids

Early morning casino raids appear to be a thing of the past.

In one of his first acts as governor, Robert Bentley, abolished former Gov. Bob Riley’s task force on illegal gambling and reassigned gaming cases to the attorney general’s office.

Riley was able to use the task force and the threat of raids to shutdown and keep closed non-Indian electronic bingo operators in the state. He established the task force during the last year of his second term after he disagreed with former Attorney General Troy King about the legality of so-called bingo machines.

But new Attorney General Luther Strange said that he has no plans to raid electronic bingo facilities, even though he has the resources to do so if they begin re-opening their doors.

Strange said his office will take a different approach to the gaming issue and work with local law enforcement agents to make sure that everyone is following the law when it comes to gaming. A familiar face, however, is handling the gaming cases. Sonny Reagan, former legal advisor to Riley, has returned to the attorney general’s office under Strange and is working on the gaming issue.

Strange said he has been in contact with representatives from Greenetrack, Country Crossing and VictoryLand about getting cases before judges so the issue can be resolved once and for all. There is a hearing in the Greenetrack case today.

“We’re offering them an opportunity to make their case in court,” Strange said in a special meeting with the press Wednesday. “Our position is that these machines are illegal and they don’t fit the definition of bingo.”

Strange said he wants the operators of the machines to allow them to be seized so that forfeiture hearings could take place. He said the machines could be seized “in place” so that they don’t have to be removed from the facilities.
Strange said that if the state wins in court, and he believes it would, the machines would be destroyed.

Strange said he doesn’t expect any currently closed bingo operations to re-open, but if they did, his office would follow standard law enforcement procedures to shut them back down.

But one thing Strange said he is not willing to do is allow the issue of determining whether so-called electronic bingo machines are actually illegal slot machines consume his office.

“I’m trying to put bingo in a box like any other legal issue,” he said. “There has been too much focus on it.”

-- posted by Markeshia Ricks

Bentley to assign gambling task force to new AG

Gov.-elect Robert Bentley announced in a statement sent out Wednesday by incoming Attorney General Luther Strange that he would assign the work of the Governor's Task Force on Illegal Gambling to Strange when they both take office on Jan. 17.
"By assigning all pending cases and investigative authority to the Attorney General's office, I have transferred the primary responsibility for ensuring that Alabama's gambling laws are enforced statewide to Attorney General-Elect Luther Strange," Bentley said. "I will fully support Attorney General Luther Strange in his efforts to enforce the laws of Alabama, including laws against illegal gambling. Attorney General Strange will follow the law on gambling and he will have my full support."
Strange vowed not to back down from enforcing the state's gaming laws.
The task force has been controversial under Gov. Bob Riley, who created the force that answered to him after disagreements with current Attorney General Troy King over the interpretation and enforcement of gaming laws in Alabama.
The task force, led first by former Jefferson County District Attorney David Barber and now by Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson, raided or attempted to raid several gaming establishments in the state including VictoryLand in Shorter and Country Crossing near Dothan.
The task force, with the help of local law enforcement, has shut down all electronic gaming in the state at casinos not operated by the Poarch Band of Creeks Indians, which have facilities in Montgomery, Wetumpka and Atmore.
Strange and Bentley, in their joint statement, said the casinos that are currently closed because of the threat of a raid by the task force should not mistake the announcement as an invitation to reopen. The announcement, they said, means that the attorney general will be the statewide officer with the "primary responsibility for investigating and prosecuting those that own, operate or house illegal gambling machines."
Some proponents of electronic gaming have accused Riley of killing jobs at casinos that have been open for years during tough economic times.
He said he is simply enforcing the law.

-- posted by Sebastian Kitchen

King: Federal investigation into AG, office is closed

Alabama Attorney General Troy King said Thursday that his personal lawyers have been informed that a federal grand jury investigation into him and his office has been closed.
He said the office of new U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance of the Northern District of Alabama informed his attorneys that the investigation has been concluded and the grand jury has adjourned.
King, who stood next to his wife Paige as he read a prepared statement, talked about the difficulties on him and his family during "many months of intense scrutiny" and a protracted investigation. He did not take questions from the media.
"While this has been a long and often stressful process, I never wavered in the knowledge that I have conducted myself and the high office I hold in an honorable and ethical fashion, and in accordance with the law," he said in the prepared statement.
King said he and the public might never know the motivations of those who registered the complaints against him.
"Holding this office requires a person to demonstrate courage, sometimes even standing up to the powerful, sometimes at great cost," he said. "Doing right has always carried a cost though."
He said his office cooperated fully with the investigation.
Several current and former members of King's staff were called before the grand jury in the last year.
The office also hired outside attorneys to help respond to subpoenas for documents. Chief of Staff Chris Bence said he and Chief Deputy Attorney General Daniel Morris decided to hire the Birmingham firm of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP.
The office requested the contract of up to $100,000 last summer.
Bence told the Montgomery Advertiser in August that Bradley Arant was hired on behalf of the office because many of the documents in the office are legally sensitive and attorneys need to be sure they process the subpoena accurately while protecting the legal rights of those involved in the cases.
He said at the time that some of the requests could include cases of attorney-client privilege and documents with other privileged information.
Bence told the Montgomery Advertiser in August that he and a handful of other employees had been called before the grand jury. The Associated Press reported in January that Bence was seen leaving the grand jury room with his attorney, Joe Espy, and confirmed he appeared before the panel for a third time.
The Birmingham News reported in May that the subpoenas sought all documents related to communication with Alabama Power Co., the Atlanta Braves, the Business Council of Alabama, political consultant Dax Swatek, and others.
King, his family and some friends used the private box of Southern Co., the parent of Alabama Power Co., during a Braves game in 2006.
Media outlets first reported the federal investigation of the attorney general's office in March 2009.
King, a Republican, is running for reelection to a second full term as attorney general. He faces fellow Republican Luther Strange in the primary. The Democrats who have announced they are running include James Anderson, Michel Nicrosi, and Giles Perkins.
"Surely the people of Alabama expect a higher standard from their chief law enforcement officer than simply not being indicted by a federal grand jury," Strange said in a statement issued after the announcement. "The public deserves an attorney general who is at work fighting public corruption instead of defending his office for months with over $100,000 of taxpayer money."
Strange has mentioned the investigation and the money spent on outside attorneys repeatedly when criticizing King. Strange is a former partner at Bradley Arant.
King, who was appointed to his position by Gov. Bob Riley in 2004 and ran successfully for a full term in 2006, did list some of his accomplishments during the Thursday statement. He talked about his work on behalf of victims.
With his arm around his wife, he said the "protracted ordeal" had deeply affected Paige and their three children. Unlike the spouses of some public officials, Paige King maintains a low profile and rarely appears at public events.
"She, even more than I, has had to explain to (their children) that the news reports and the schoolhouse gossip were not reasons to worry," King said. "She, like I, has explained that, once justice arrives, it is fair, and that they can be proud that their dad has done nothing wrong. Because of my calling into public service, my wife and my children have been painfully touched by this matter."
While the grand jury met in Montgomery, the U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Alabama conducted the investigation.
President Obama appointed Vance to one of the three U.S. attorney positions in Alabama. The investigation began under former U.S. Attorney Alice Martin, who was appointed to the position by President George W. Bush.
"Holding the office of the attorney general or U.S. attorney is a position of sacred trust. A prosecutor is vested with one of the highest callings in preserving our freedom and upholding our sense of justice, but that authority and responsibility can also be misused and abused if it goes unchecked," King said Thursday. "If the person holding such an office sets out to settle political scores, the very powers that protect and defend can also destroy reputations and hurt innocent people."

-- posted by Sebastian Kitchen

GOP races for governor, AG wide open, according to poll

The Republican primaries for governor and attorney general are wide open, according to an independent poll released on Monday.
Bradley Byrne and Roy Moore are close in a race in the Republican primary for governor while Troy King and Luther Strange are virtually deadlocked in the race to be the state's chief law enforcement officer, according to the poll conducted by Baselice and Associates of Austin on Feb. 3 and Feb. 4.
In both races, almost half of those polled were undecided.
Brett Hall, a spokesman for gubernatorial candidate and Greenville businessman Tim James, said the campaign conducted a poll at the same time and disputes the numbers released on Monday.
Hall agreed that the undecided voters make up more than those selecting any one candidate. He said 31 percent were undecided in their poll.
The poll conducted for the James campaign has Moore with 26 percent while Byrne and James are in a "dead heat" for second. Moore is the former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.
In the James poll, James finished with 18 percent and Byrne with 17 percent. Byrne is a former state senator and former chancellor of the two-year college system.
"What we see is a wide open race," Hall said.
He said both sides have the objective of converting the undecided voters.
"From other sources I am getting, this poll is way off," Hall said.
For its poll, Baselice polled 1,007 likely Republican voters with a margin of error of 3.1 percent. Mike Baselice is the pollster for Texas Gov. Rick Perry and has polled for California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The Montgomery firm of Public Strategy Associates, a Republican consulting and marketing firm, paid for the poll.
Brent Buchanan, senior partner at Public Strategy, said they decided to conduct the poll because other groups had conducted polls and not released them. He said the firm has a relationship with Baselice and decided to conduct the poll to show where the candidates stand because they did not have a candidate in the race.
"We've got four months and a lot of money to be spent," Buchanan said of the GOP primaries.
Public Strategy did represent state Rep. Robert Bentley, a Republican running for governor, from March through October, but no longer works with the candidate.
Byrne had 20 percent of the support from those polled while Moore was at 17 percent. James had 8 percent, Bentley had 4 percent, state Treasurer Kay Ivey had 3 percent, and Bill Johnson, former director of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, had 2 percent.
Forty-six percent of people were undecided.
When people were asked about ideology, 55 percent of those polled said they were "very conservative" with 29 percent as "somewhat conservative" and 14 percent as moderate or liberal.
"It may not be this conservative if we were talking about a general election survey," Baselice said.
Ninety percent of those surveyed also said they would definitely vote in the June primary.
Moore had stronger support from the "very conservative" Republicans voters while Byrne was better among the "somewhat conservative" and more moderate voters.
When looking at media markets across the state, Byrne finished well ahead of the pack in Mobile while Moore's numbers were consistent in each of the markets.
Baselice said if a candidate for governor is persuasive "he could move into the top tier very quickly" because no one has distanced themselves from the competition.
Hall said he knows the James campaign is in better shape than the numbers in the Baselice poll.
"We're happy with where we are," he said. "We're where we need to be according to the poll. We have a clear strategy to win this race."
In the Baselice poll, King garnered 27 percent of the vote in the Republican primary for attorney general while Strange had 24 percent. Strange is a Birmingham lawyer and lobbyist. King is the sitting attorney general.
Almost half of people were undecided.
"It is still wide open," Baselice said.
The participants were also asked about their Republican choices for president in 2012. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee finished ahead of the pack in the state with 33 percent of the vote with former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin finishing with 23 percent.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney finished with support from 12 percent of those polled while U.S. Rep. Ron Paul had 5 percent. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty had 3 percent.
Twenty-four percent of the Republicans polled said they were undecided on their pick for president in 2012.

-- posted by Sebastian Kitchen

Nicrosi announces run for AG

Former federal prosecutor Michel Nicrosi of Daphne has decided to run for attorney general, saying the position needs a prosecutor and not a politician.
The Democrat announced Thursday she has formed a campaign committee.
Nicrosi, a standout in academics and athletics at Montgomery Academy, served 16 years as a federal prosecutor and was chief of the Criminal Division in Alabama's southern district.
"If we want to finally clean up this state and keep our families safe,we don't need another politician as attorney general. We've had plenty of those. We need a prosecutor," she said in a statement. "That's what I’ve been for most of my adult life."
Two prominent Republicans have announced they are running, incumbent Troy King who is vying for his second term and Birmingham lawyer and former lobbyist Luther Strange. Strange beat a field of Republicans in the 2006
Republican primary for lieutenant governor, but lost to Jim Folsom Jr. in the general election.
Giles Perkins, a Birmingham attorney and former executive director of the Alabama Democratic Party, said in October that he would vie for his party's nomination for attorney general.

-- posted by Sebastian Kitchen