Robert Burt DeLaughter Sr. (born February 28, 1954, in Vicksburg, Mississippi) is a former state prosecutor and then Hinds County Circuit Judge.
He prosecuted and secured the conviction in 1994 of Byron De La Beckwith, charged with the murder of the civil rights leader Medgar Evers on June 12, 1963.
The family moved to Jackson when Bobby was very young, and DeLaughter grew up being part of the city's white middle class.
DeLaughter first saw the law in action when his ninth-grade civics teacher took the class to watch a trial at the Hinds County courthouse.
Due to their opposing views and his commitment on the Evers case, which Bobby started investigating in 1989 for a new trial, his and Dixie's marriage was strained.
DeLaughter is best known for leading the state's successful prosecution of Byron De La Beckwith for the assassination of civil rights leader Medgar Evers in 1994, more than 30 years after the crime.
On March 28, 2008, DeLaughter was suspended from the bench indefinitely by the Mississippi Supreme Court due to allegations of bribery and judicial misconduct.
[3] On February 12, 2009, DeLaughter pleaded not guilty to a five-count federal indictment; these charges were linked to the criminal investigation of disgraced tort attorney Richard Scruggs.
[6] In keeping with the recommendation of his plea agreement, Judge Davidson did not impose a financial penalty on DeLaughter due to his negative net worth.