Lawyers appealing a $10.5 million verdict against Hyundai in Mississippi cited a long list of problems, at the bottom of which was an allegation that the plaintiffs lawyer, Dennis Sweet, paid a flamboyant minister to host fish fries and revivals in an effort to influence prospective jurors prior to trial.

The bizarre tale prompted an investigation, during which Sweet, of Sweet & Associates in Jackson, Mississippi, called the allegation “insulting.” But, on March 11, the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed the verdict, concluding that Sweet had misrepresented his relationship with the preacher, known as Bishop Carey Sparks or Bishop C.L. Sparks.