Perhaps it’s just the moralist in me, but I would like to have seen a sense of shame and regret on display as Meg Scott Phipps was released from prison two days ago. What I saw instead was the same claim of martyrdom and persecution with which Phipps cloaked herself in 2003.

We folk in North Carolina know Phipps well, but let me review the tawdry details of her scandal for other readers. Four years ago, Phipps — the state’s agriculture commissioner — was convicted in state court of perjury and obstruction of justice after taking tens of thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions. With four, count ‘em, four top aides testifying against Phipps, the case was a slam dunk. After the trial was concluded, the judge remarked that the jury “could have reached no other verdict.” A month later, Phipps pleaded guilty to federal charges of extortion, fraud and conspiracy resulting from the same scandal.

Her former aides said she was guilty. A jury said she was guilty. The judge said she was guilty. Even Phipps herself stood up in court and said she was guilty.

But privately, Phipps told people that she was a victim of ruthless prosecutors. One day in 2003, just a couple of hours after she was convicted of the state charges, I ended up in the same courthouse elevator as Phipps. That was the first time I heard her say what is now apparently her mantra of martyrdom: “My side of the story has never been told.”

That was an astonishing assertion from someone who’d not only declined to testify in court, but hadn’t even presented any defense witnesses to tell her side of the story. I dutifully wrote down her words in my notebook, but I recall thinking to myself: “Ma’am, you’ve got no character.”

Now, after being released from prison, Phipps has returned to that same theme. “The only other regret I have is that I haven’t been able to make the same speech that the Duke lacrosse young men got to make,” she told a reporter. (Translation: I’m yet another innocent soul victimized by rogue prosecutors.)

I’m tempted to challenge Phipps to now put something on the table. OK, Toots, tell your side of the story. Whaddya got?

But I’d be wasting my breath. Phipps won’t do that, because there are too many people who know too many specifics of her crimes. They’d pick apart her tale without breaking a sweat.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 24th, 2007 at 9:36 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.