Jerry Mitchell //

These days, former Hinds County Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter manages a company that finds forgotten buildings, some of them untouched since Hurricane Katrina, and restores them into apartments.

The task is a metaphor for his life in New Orleans, which he described as "a tolerant and forgiving place where people have been coming for the past 300 years to start new lives."

DeLaughter, best known for successfully prosecuting Medgar Evers' murderer, is one of them. He and his wife, Peggy, moved there after he emerged from prison in 2010, and he has just released a new novel, inspired in part by his experiences.

He served about a year in prison after pleading guilty to lying to FBI agents about how many times he spoke to his former boss, Ed Peters, regarding a legal fees dispute that could have cost trial lawyer Dickie Scruggs more than $15 million.

"I don't consider myself a stupid person, but I was stupid," DeLaughter said. "I let my guard down with my good friend and mentor and was too open with him. Looking back with 20/20 hindsight, I should have done so many things with respect to Ed. I didn't, and I paid a dear price for it."

Prosecutors accused DeLaughter of ruling in Scruggs' favor in the dispute involving asbestos litigation in exchange for Scruggs asking his brother-in-law, then-U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, to nominate DeLaughter for a federal judgeship. Lott telephoned DeLaughter but recommended someone else.

DeLaughter said there was never any deal, "nor did I have any knowledge of the $1 million agreement Ed made or what he was to do in fulfillment of that agreement. I was shocked when my lawyer and I learned that from the prosecutors, because when Ed told me that Scruggs wanted to help me with the federal appointment I was seeking, I told Ed, 'If he wants to help, that's fine. I need all the help I can get. But tell him that there is not going to be any quid pro quo.' Ed's response was to the effect that he had already told them that; they understood.

"I said, 'Ed, I want you to tell them that I said it, that it came from my lips. I don't want anything assumed.' And he assured me that he would tell them. Obviously that didn't happen."

When a grand jury asked Peters if DeLaughter told him there would be no quid pro quo, "Ed's response was that he didn't recall — that I could have because it sounded like something I'd say, but he couldn't remember."

Although Peters received $1 million, he never went to prison because he received immunity in the case. The former district attorney turned in his law license and gave authorities $425,000 — all that prosecutors said was left after taxes and stock market losses.

Scruggs has just emerged from prison himself after serving time on corruption charges involving both the DeLaughter case and another legal fees dispute, this one regarding fees connected with Hurricane Katrina.

"What is deeply ironic is Bobby DeLaughter was promised so little and received nothing," said Matt Steffey, professor at Mississippi College School of Law. "If I were a judge and a former boss and mentor sat across a table and talked out of school, I'm not sure I'd call the FBI."

Jackson lawyers Vicki Slater and Bill Kirksey, who represented Scruggs' former law partner, William Roberts Wilson Jr., in the $15 million legal fees dispute, asked why DeLaughter should be believed now since he pleaded guilty to lying.

"Four lawyers gave up their law licenses, and three of those four lawyers went to prison because DeLaughter's rulings were corrupted," Slater said. "There is nothing that I can add that speaks to the reality of the crime more than that."

A native of Vicksburg, DeLaughter became fascinated with the law watching a murder trial while a ninth-grade student at Wingfield High School in Jackson.

He became senior class president and headed to the University of Mississippi, where he attended law school. He wound up interning for then-Hinds County Attorney Dale Danks and Jackson lawyer Al Binder.

After law school, he worked for Binder before leaving in 1983 with Kirksey to start their own law firm. "In 1986, we did three capital murder trials," DeLaughter said. "It really drained us financially and physically and emotionally."

Days after Christmas that year, he happened to visit the Hinds County district attorney's office. The only person there was Ed Peters, who told him that he didn't look too happy.

"I'm tired of what I'm doing," DeLaughter said he replied.

Peters told him to come work for him.

DeLaughter joined the office in May 1987. "As a prosecutor, you have more control over what happens," he said.

His highest profile case came in 1989 when he got involved in the reopening of Evers' 1963 murder.

When prosecutors met with Evers' widow, Myrlie, "the hurt was still there, the loss was still there, the lack of justice was still there," he said. "She fully realized if we got into a courtroom, we would only have one more shot and didn't want it wasted. She wanted it for all the right reasons. We hit it off from there."

After Beckwith's conviction on Feb. 5, 1994, she shouted out, "Yay, Medgar, yay!"

Inside, "I was screaming myself," DeLaughter said. "We did it. We did it. It was a very satisfying feeling. I had never felt anything like that before or since."

He penned a memoir on his experiences, "Never Too Late," and Hollywood released a movie, "Ghosts of Mississippi," in 1996 with Alec Baldwin portraying DeLaughter.

In the years that followed, he became a judge. "I was tired of being an advocate," he said. "I was wanting to address and apply law."

He said he had the most fun during that time.

It stopped being fun in 2008 when Scruggs' former lawyer, Joey Langston, pleaded guilty to his involvement in a scheme to get DeLaughter to rule in Scruggs' favor.

In a hearing, Scruggs' former attorney, Timothy Balducci, testified that Scruggs' team hired Peters, who influenced DeLaughter with the promise of being recommended for a federal judgeship.

Balducci said DeLaughter shared draft copies of orders with Scruggs' team and that Peters told them in advance that DeLaughter would rule in their favor.

Other cases involving Peters and DeLaughter have also drawn scrutiny. Last year, the state Supreme Court upheld the dismissal of a $1 billion trade secret lawsuit filed by Eaton Corp. against a rival as punishment for Eaton turning Peters loose to influence DeLaughter.

At sentencing, DeLaughter received 18 months, and the former judge went to the prison.

"It was tough," he said. "The toughest thing was separation from Peggy and the family."

He never considered a memoir on his latest experiences.

"I learned from writing 'Never Too Late' that, at least for me, writing a memoir requires total immersion into the subject matter, reliving it — and the last thing I ever want to do is immerse myself and relive what my family and I went through in my federal case," he said. "Once that nightmare came to an end, my focus has been on the present and future."

DeLaughter found solace in writing a novel titled "Inside the Labyrinth: A Bo Landry Erotic Thriller."

The novel centers on a former narcotics agent starting anew in New Orleans — only to encounter what he thinks might be the handiwork of a serial killer that he had first encountered in Mississippi.

"There's a little bit of me in each of the characters — except the killer," DeLaughter said.

Since its March 13 release, he has sold more than 4,200 copies of e-books. Another 67 have been purchased as paperbacks.

He has already started a sequel, he said. "I just turned 60, but I don't believe God is finished with me yet, so I'm focusing my energy on another love — crafting stories which, from all that I've learned, others are finding enthralling."

His thoughts now that he has entered his sixth decade of life? "I wish I was 30," he said, "and knew what I knew now."

To contact Jerry Mitchell, call (601) 961-7064 or follow @jmitchellnews on Twitter.