Trial attorney Paul Minor, a main figure in a judicial bribery scandal, is facing a bond revocation after being arrested on a drunken driving charge in Baton Rouge last month.

"Our concern is that Mr. Minor does in fact pose ... a danger to others based on his use of alcohol, his driving while drunk," Assistant U.S. Attorney Dave Fulcher told U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate.

Wingate called the allegations "serious" and set a court date for Monday at 4 p.m. to determine whether to impose new restrictions on Minor's bond conditions or to revoke the bond altogether.

Minor's attorney, Joe Hollomon of Jackson, asked for a continuance to confer with Minor's Baton Rouge attorney and to research the allegations. But he said outside the courtroom that he does not expect to find convictions against Minor as part of the earlier allegations.

When asked whether Friday's development would affect Minor's upcoming judicial bribery trial, Hollomon said, "No. It's two totally different things."

The arrest surfaced after Minor allegedly collided with another motorist, causing minor injuries, according to his probation officer, then refused to consent to breath or field sobriety tests. The Oct. 19 police report also states that Minor was "highly intoxicated" and that he said he refused the breath test because he was a lawyer.

Minor, former Chancery Judge Wes Teel and former Circuit Judge John Whitfield, both also of the Gulf Coast, will be retried March 6 in the judicial bribery case. Minor was accused of using cash, loans and gifts to secure favorable decisions in cases before state Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz Jr., Teel and Whitfield.

After a three-month trial, a federal jury on Aug. 12 cleared Diaz of all charges but couldn't decide on some charges against Minor, Teel and Whitfield.

Minor and his wife were staying with his mother-in-law in Baton Rouge because the couple's Ocean Springs home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

Fulcher said he has had verbal confirmation from law enforcement officials of other reports of drunken-driving arrests, but information on their outcome is limited because many records on the Coast are not available. Other incidents occurred in December 1994 and in March 1999, he said.

Fulcher produced a police report for a drunken-driving incident on Aug. 22, 2001, which alleges that Minor struck a utility pole after consuming alcohol.

Hollomon proposed that the court consider a medical evaluation to determine what is necessary in this case, and requested to present the results under seal.

Wingate agreed to continue the matter until Monday but said he did not want to put it off further because of the seriousness of the allegations.

The judge said he would not require Minor to reside in the Southern District of Mississippi as Fulcher requested so he could be effectively monitored. He did not consider Minor a flight risk and said locating housing this weekend on the storm-ravaged Coast would be too difficult.

"That would be an extreme hardship visited upon him when he didn't go down to Baton Rouge for any nefarious purposes in the first place," he said.

Fulcher said Minor violated three conditions of his bond, including committing an offense, consuming an excessive amount of alcohol, and failing to report any contact with law enforcement during his release on bond.

Minor was charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated, failure to maintain control, driving without an insurance certificate and reckless driving.

Minor's probation officer, Mark Quarles, however, told the judge that although an ambulance responded to the scene, it did not transport anyone to the hospital.

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