Government says Dixon lawyer may have conflict
Dixon, a Memphis Democrat, is charged with extortion and bribery in the FBI’s Tennessee Waltz investigation. He is scheduled for trial Jan. 17 before Judge Jon McCalla of U.S. District Court.
Prosecutors want a court hearing on whether defense lawyer Walter Bailey has a conflict that prevents him from representing Dixon, the first of six Tennessee Waltz defendants expected to go to trial. Three have pleaded guilty.
In a filing made part of court records Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim DiScenza said Javier Bailey, a member of Walter Bailey’s law firm, has represented a former Memphis resident expected to be a government witness against Dixon.
The witness, Tim Willis, was a paid government informant during the investigation that led to criminal charges against five current or former state lawmakers, a Shelby County commissioner, a Hamilton County commissioner and two “bag men.”
In his filing, DiScenza asks for a court ruling on “a potential or actual conflict of interest” for Walter Bailey.
Javier Bailey, Walter Bailey’s son, has said he represented Willis in an unrelated child support dispute around the time Willis was working for the FBI, the government said.
Under Tennessee’s rules for lawyers, that might prevent Walter Bailey from cross examining Willis at Dixon’s trial, DiScenza said in his petition.
Walter Bailey said he could not speculate on whether the government request might delay Dixon’s trial and declined to say if he believes he has a conflict.
“I’m not at liberty to make any public comments on that,” Bailey said, adding that his answer to the government’s petition will be filed with the court.
Willis, a former public relations man who served prison time for credit card fraud, posed as an agent for a company called E-Cycle Management, witnesses and court records say.
The company, a fake created by the FBI, made payoffs to state and local officials while supposedly trying to buy and sell used government computers, according to federal indictments.