Shirley Cunningham Jr. (left), William Gallion (right)
FRANKFORT — The retrial of two former lawyers accused of taking millions of dollars from their clients has been postponed until Thursday morning because a defense attorney is ill.
Georgia lawyer O. Hale Almand, who represents William Gallion, became dizzy about 4 p.m. Monday in U.S. District Court. Testimony ended early for the day.
It was the third time the trial has been postponed due to Almand’s health. The trial was delayed for a week the first week in March.
Almand’s health triggered concerns that U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves might have to declare a second mistrial. But Almand told a lawyer who is temporarily representing Gallion that he just needs rest and expects to be ready for trial Thursday.
Almand has an ear infection that affects his balance, Reeves said.
Cunningham and Gallion are accused of taking $94 million that should gone to former fen-phen diet-drug users in the 2001 settlement of a $200 million lawsuit.
Federal prosecutors and Cunningham’s lawyer, Stephen Dobson, told Reeves they want to avoid a mistrial. The judge said he would research whether he can declare a mistrial for Gallion but continue the case for Cunningham.
Coffey was ordered to report back on Almand’s condition by Wednesday afternoon. Reeves was to conduct a hearing at 4 p.m. if Almand is not feeling better.
Cunningham and Gallion’s first trial resulted in a mistrial after jurors could not reach a verdict. A third lawyer, Melbourne Mills Jr., was acquitted.
Cunningham and Gallion are charged with wire fraud and conspiracy.
Prosecutors were questioning their final witness on Monday. The former lawyers are expected to present their case after the last witness concludes his testimony.
Give me a break, these dirtbags should be under the jail and stop wasting wasting our tax dollars retrying them. They know the law and they know they broke it. Greedy, dirtbag, dis-barred ambulance chasers. This trial is turning out to be more of a joke than the first. Gallion and his inept son should have both been locked up weeks ago for their antics disrupting the proceedings, now they’re talking mistrial. Pay back the $$$$$ according to the civil judgement, and lock these dirtbags up in prison. This has been a farce and gone on too long.
they should take them out and shoot them for what they have done to those people.
i would be sick too if i had too defend those crooks,, the show needs to go on!! perhaps he has the same illness that michael jackson does…..BS
I guess that the guilt of defending someone like Gallion is finally starting to get him and making him sick.
Well, that’s mature! Take the guys that got their clients millions of dollars, far more than ANY other Fen Phen case and screw them as an example, thereby insuring that never again will innocent victims be able to participate in cases like this and be awarded outrageously large sums of money. Sometimes people are so short-sighted and down right stupid - get your heads out of your hindquarters and figure this out. It is NOT about the losers who already got more money than they ever deserved. It is NOT that these guys did anything illegal - they didn’t. It is about taking away our rights in the long run. Oh well, might as well get used to that. The government is hard at work figuring out how to do that on a daily basis.