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Archive for the ‘MISSISSIPPI’ Category
Former Olive Branch Mississippi Police Officer Adam McHann Changes His Guilty Plea In Federal Court After K9 Attack On Unarmed Cooperating Teen
July 17th, 2008
OLIVE BRANCH, MISSISSIPPI - A former Olive Branch police officer charged with depriving a suspect of his civil rights will be heading to trial.
Adam McHann, a patrolman with the city’s police force prior to his indictment in November, requested that U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mills allow him to withdraw a guilty plea he entered in the case in February and won.
Following nearly two hours of testimony in Oxford on Wednesday, the judge granted McHann’s request, in part because McHann has maintained his innocence throughout the case’s progression.
McHann is accused of ordering his canine partner “Marko” to bite 17-year-old Dedrick Johnson, who originally fled from police for a traffic violation but was unarmed and cooperating with police orders, on March 8, 2003.
U.S. Probation Officer Laura Wright testified on Wednesday that McHann seemed “unsure of everything” during an interview she conducted with him following his guilty plea on Feb. 5.
Read MoreNutcase Jackson Mississippi Mayor And Cop Wannabe Frank Melton Finally Indicted On Federal Civil Rights Violations After Terrorizing Town, Demolition Of So-Called Crack House
July 11th, 2008
JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI - Mayor Frank Melton of Jackson, Miss., was indicted Wednesday on federal civil rights charges related to the unannounced demolition of a duplex that he said was a crack house.
In August 2006, Mr. Melton and his two police bodyguards, Michael Recio and Marcus Wright, ordered the occupants out of the house at gunpoint and directed a group of youths to attack the house with sledgehammers, the indictment said. The mayor, who ran for office on an anti-crime platform, himself broke out the windows with a large stick, the indictment said.
Read MoreNatchez Mississippi Narcotics Police Officer Eric Kaho Quit Amid Investigation - Arrested, Charged With Embezzlement - Was On Leave After Shooting Himself In The Chest
July 11th, 2008
NATCHEZ, MISSISSIPPI — A former Natchez police officer has been arrested on felony charges of embezzlement.
Eric Kaho, 30, 138 Washington Circle, allegedly embezzled more than $500 from the Metro Narcotics unit to which he was assigned.
Kaho was recently indicted by an Adams County grand jury. He turned himself in at the Adams County Sheriff’s Office Thursday.
Kaho resigned from the Natchez Police Department in January.
“He worked here for about seven years before this happened,” Natchez Police Chief Mike Mullins said. “We were shocked and saddened. He had done some excellent police work during his career.”
Mullins said investigations into missing money began in 2007, while Kaho was taking a leave from work due to a knee injury.
“In a routine check of money he was entrusted with, some of it was discovered missing,” Mullins said. “We notified the Attorney General’s office for an outside investigation.”
Read MoreAdams County Mississippi Deputy Sheriff Marcus Washington Fired After Crashing Patrol Car Into 4 Vehicles At Dealership While Driving On A Suspended License
July 1st, 2008
NATCHEZ, MISSISSIPPI - The Adams County sheriff fired a deputy who crashed into four vehicles at a car dealership while answering a call to help another officer.
Sheriff Ronny Brown said that Marcus Washington was in his first year with the department, so he was a probationary employee.
Brown said Friday that during the investigation, he learned that Washington’s driver’s license had been suspended. But he said that was not the specific reason for his dismissal.
Washington told investigators that he had to swerve off the road on June 18 because another car pulled in front of his cruiser. Brown said the squad car was going about 60 mph.
Second Victim In One Month Accuses Moss Point Mississippi Police Officers Of Misconduct
May 31st, 2008
MOSS POINT, MISSISSIPPI - For the second time this month a Jackson County resident is accusing Moss Point police officers of misconduct.
Brunetta Gildersleeve, 68, said police officers acted inappropriately when they stopped a vehicle she and other family members were in on May 14 and ordered them out of the car at gunpoint.
But Moss Point police officials said there was nothing wrong with the way the officers acted because they believed they were stopping bank robbery suspects.
Gildersleeve, who is handicapped and on dialysis, was the front-seat passenger in a black Mercury Marquis when police officers stopped the vehicle on Grierson Street around 11 in the morning.
Gildersleeve’s son, Ralph Gildersleeve, was driving when the patrol car came up behind him with his blue lights on. Ralph Gildersleeve’s wife, his wife’s niece and her two children were also in the vehicle.
Read MoreUpdate: Totally Disgraced Former Greenwood Mississippi Police Officer Casey Wiggins Quits, Claims He Was Persecuted After The Crazed Cop Attacked Unarmed Student
May 29th, 2008
GREENWOOD, MISSISSIPPI - Former Greenwood police officer Casey Wiggins says he resigned two weeks ago because of persecution from the department since a 2006 altercation at Greenwood High School.
“I was tired of working for the Greenwood Police Department, and I needed out because of the stress level,” Wiggins said.
Wiggins, 28, said he was given unfair disciplinary write-ups in an attempt to establish grounds for termination since scuffling with then-Greenwood High School student James Marshall on Dec. 6, 2006, at the school.
Simple assault charges against Wiggins were dismissed in July 2007, but a $2 million civil case against Wiggins, the Police Department, former Police Chief Henry Harris, the city and the Greenwood school district is still pending.
On May 16, the department gave Wiggins the option to resign before a termination hearing scheduled because of his third on-duty automobile accident. Wiggins wrecked his cruiser into a concrete pole on Park Avenue on May 13.
Read MoreTotally Disgraced Greenwood Mississippi Police Officer Casey Wiggins Quits - Twice Pulled Gun On Unarmed Student During Videotaped Assault
May 29th, 2008
GREENWOOD, MISSISSIPPI - The Greenwood police officer involved in a scuffle with a high school student in 2006 has resigned from the force.
Casey Wiggins says he resigned because of stress and efforts being made to get him out.
Former student James Marshal and Wiggins got into the fight at the school. The incident was captured on school security cameras. Wiggins pointed his gun at Marshall twice on the video in an attempt to arrest the teenager.
Simple assault charges against Wiggins were dismissed last year. A civil trial is scheduled for January.
Former Jackson Mississippi Police Officer Lawrence Epps Arrested, Charged With Robbing Credit Union
May 2nd, 2008
JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI - The former Jackson police officer accused of robbing a downtown credit union gave authorities no indication Thursday of why he allegedly stole $8,000 last week.
Jackson Police Department spokesman Sgt. Jeffery Scott said Thursday afternoon suspect Lawrence Epps had refused to speak to authorities.
U.S. marshals and Jackson police cuffed Epps about 8 a.m. outside the downtown federal courthouse after security there spotted him nearby.
“We received word from some of our federal court security officers that a gentleman matching the description of Mr. Epps was seen in the downtown (Jackson) area,” said Richard Griffin, who heads the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force. “We contacted the Jackson Police Department and sent several of our units to the area. After a short search, Mr. Epps was discovered in the parking lot of the Edison Walthall Hotel next door to the courthouse.”
Read MoreFormer Jackson Mississippi Police Officer Lawrence Epps Sought After Robbing Credit Union Of Nearly $8,000
April 27th, 2008
JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI - Capitol city detectives are looking for a former member of the force accused of a brazen daytime robbery.
Police believe 46 year old Lawrence Epps robbed the Mississippi Public Employees Credit Union Friday morning.
Investigators say he got away with almost $8,000.
Officers say Epps handed a teller a note that demanded money and warned that he had a gun. Police say the teller gave him the cash and he ran away.
The incident has Jackson residents talking.
Karen Whitney says “people do odd things these days. This is what our world is coming to.
But allegations of wrongdoing by former and current police are not unique to Jackson.
“This happens everywhere. Just look at those three guys in New York where they were acquitted for shooting a guy 50 times. Think about that situation,” says Zachery Gardner.
Read More$2 Million Lawsuit Charges Pearl Mississippi Police With Abusing Mentally Disabled Man - Disgraced Officer Keith Peterson And Jeff Thames Efforts Included Videotaped Beating Of Man’s Head And Fake “Lie Detector” Test With A Lampshade And Electric Wires - Our Tax Dollars At Work
April 27th, 2008
JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI - A mentally disabled man who was given a fake lie detector test is still waiting for a settlement after six years. Pearl police admitted that officers put a lampshade on Huey Granger’s head in June 2002. Granger had filed a police report claiming that his daughter was attacked by her boyfriend in their Pearl home. While at the police station, officers Keith Peterson and Jeff Thames gave him a “fake lie detector test.”
Granger is adamant that two former Pearl police officers should pay for his pain and humiliation. He is asking for $2 million in a civil lawsuit against the two men.
“I’m asking for $2 million tax free in my pocket and my insurance paid for the rest of my life,” Granger said Friday following a hearing in federal court.
Read MoreMoss Point Mississippi Police Officer In Hiding After Shooting Aryan Brotherhood Member
April 21st, 2008
MOSS POINT, MISSISSIPPI – The Moss Point police chief says safety concerns led him to withhold the name the officer who shot a man last month who claimed to be a member of the Aryan Brotherhood.
Frederick Gaston said he made the decision following reports that members of the white-supremacist group were trying to find out the officer’s identity.
The officer shot Lee Green, 39, twice in the chest after Green allegedly rammed the officer’s car and tried to run him over during a March 19 pursuit.
“The safety of the officer is paramount,” Gaston said. “And I will weigh the public’s need to know against the safety of my officers every time. Eventually, that information will become public. We are not going to keep it a secret.”
Gaston said Green claimed he was a member of the Aryan Brotherhood when questioned by investigators about his swastika tattoos.
Read MoreGulfport Mississippi Police Under Investigation After Police Officers Beat And Shoot Man Laying In The Road With Taser Weapons
April 16th, 2008
GULFPORT, MISSISSIPPI - Gulfport police are investigating an assault on a police officer that happened Tuesday afternoon near the intersection of Three Rivers and Rippy Road.
There are also allegations that police used excessive force in the arrest which followed the incident.
“And it was just too much brute force for me,” said Rose Green, who saw Gulfport police arrest Tracy Butler.
“More than excessive. More than excessive,” said Ronald Jackson, who is Butler’s cousin and also witnessed the arrest.
Both Green and Jackson say the force used by police when they arrested Butler included pepper spray, multiple shots with a taser and dropping the suspect on his head.
“Grabbed him, picked him up and threw him. When he did, he pushed his head to the ground. And I ran to him and said, ‘Wait, wait, he has seizures. Wait a minute.’ And by that time, they were tasing him,” said Green.
Read MoreTrial Opens After Jackson Mississippi Police Officer Gregory Jackson’s Chase Resulted In Death Of Innocent Motorist
April 16th, 2008
JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI - Almost seven years after a teen driver fleeing from a Jackson police officer ran a red light and crashed into another vehicle, killing Jackson Police Cmd. Tyrone Lewis’ cousin and injuring his mother and another woman, the actions of the officer have led to a civil trial.
A lawsuit accusing the officer and the city of Jackson of negligence was filed on behalf of the deceased woman’s heirs and the two injured women. The bench trial began in Hinds County Circuit Court Monday. Judge Winston Kidd is presiding.
Margaret Stephens, 53, of Mesquite, Texas, was killed. Lee Bertha Lewis and Oda Mae Green were injured.
Attorneys for the women and the family of the dead woman say the officer violated the city’s pursuit policy by pursuing the teen’s vehicle through a residential area on a traffic violation.
Read MoreUpdate: Watonwan County Minnesota Deputy Sheriff Joseph Dahl Charged After Spending Shifts At Home
April 9th, 2008
ST. JAMES, MN - A Minnesota sheriff’s deputy is in trouble, accused of spending large chunks of his shifts at home.
According to a criminal complaint, Joseph Dahl’s bosses in Watonwan County say they got suspicious when a GPS tracker in his squad kept getting turned off. He told them that he was having problems with the system but another deputy who used Dahl’s squad car didn’t notice any problems.
So an investigator from a neighboring county secretly installed another GPS unit into Dahl’s squad car. The investigator compared those GPS records to Dahl’s daily log. The criminal complaint, filed in Watonwan County, said that the new GPS unit caught Dahl spending hours at home when he said he was patrolling county roads.
Dahl has been charged with theft and misconduct of a public officer. He faces prison time and fines for getting paid without doing the work.
Read MoreMistrial Declared In Mendenahll Mississippi Police Chief James Sullivan’s Child Molestation Trial
April 5th, 2008
MENDENHALL, MS - A mistrial has been declared in the trial of Mendenhall Police Chief James Sullivan, accused of sexual battery after allegedly having sex with a 14-year-old girl.
The jury on Thursday reported to the judge that it could not reach a verdict.
Sullivan, 50, was charged in 2007 with four counts of sexual battery.
During his trial in Simpson County Circuit Court this week, Simpson denied having sex with the girl. The teenager, however, testified they had sex on four occasions.
Sullivan was elected in 2005 to a four-year term.
Forrest County Mississippi Deputy Sheriff Loses Appeal After Being Attacked By State Troopers Joseph Seals and Thomas Little - Troopers Confused Their Victim’s Tiny Ford Escape With Ford Explorer
April 5th, 2008
MISSISSIPPI - The Mississippi Supreme Court denied an appeal Thursday from a Forrest County reserve deputy who claimed he was assaulted by state troopers in a 2003 incident.
In a lawsuit against the Mississippi Department of Public Safety and the Highway Patrol, reserve deputy Charles Phillips sought damages for injuries he sustained when state troopers used physical force to detain him during a police chase.
According to court documents, Troopers Joseph Seals and Thomas Little mistook Phillips for a domestic abuse suspect they were pursuing on U.S. 49.
Phillips’ suit was dismissed by Forrest County Circuit Court Judge Bob Helfrich in December 2006. Phillips appealed to the state Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court, in an opinion written by Justice Ann Lamar, agreed with Helfrich that the troopers “did not act in reckless disregard of the safety and well-being of Phillips.”
Read MoreBay St. Louis Mississippi Police Officer Under Investigation In Sex For Freedom Incident Involving Female Motorist
April 3rd, 2008
BAY ST. LOUIS, MS — A Bay St. Louis police officer is under investigation after a woman says he offered to drop traffic tickets in exchange for sexual favors.
Bay Police Chief Tom Burleson confirmed the investigation to WLOX News, but did not identify the officer or the woman. Burleson told WLOX News he only recently learned of the alleged impropriety and immediately launched an investigation.
The incident allegedly took place last June after the woman was stopped for an expired license tag and had no proof of insurance.
Burleson wouldn’t comment on whether the woman ever paid the initial tickets. But last month, she was arrested on a warrant for the unpaid tickets issued.
Appeared Here
Child Testifies In Mendenhall Mississippi Police Chief Jimbo Sullivan’s Child Molestation Trial - Began With Sex In Patrol Car
April 2nd, 2008
MENDENHALL, MS — Spectators packed the courtroom in the historic courthouse on the square when a now 15-year-old girl took the stand to testify about alleged sexual encounters last year with Mendenhall Police Chief Jimbo Sullivan.
Occasionally wiping away tears, the girl said she had oral, vaginal and anal sex with the chief during encounters from January to March of 2007.
The Clarion-Ledger does not identify those who allege sexual assault.
The girl said she got to know Sullivan because her father was a part-time police officer and her parents were part of the police auxiliary.
Sullivan would tell her he hadn’t gotten his text message from her, according to her testimony during the retrial of Sullivan in Simpson County Circuit Court.
She said she sent Sullivan a text message from her cell phone on the night of Dec. 31, 2006, telling him he now had her telephone number.
Read More$12 Million Lawsuit Charges Jackson Mississippi Police Officer L.V. Gater With Shooting And Killing Motorist
April 1st, 2008
JACKSON, MS - The mother of a man shot and killed six months ago by a Jackson police officer has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Hinds County Circuit Court seeking $12 million.
Twenty-eight-year-old Roy Bradley Jr. was shot by a Jackson police officer on Sept. 23, 2007, following a traffic stop near Commerce Park Drive and Stonewall Street.
The shooting occurred after the officer, named in the suit as L.V. Gater, took Bradley out of handcuffs to sign a form, police officials said at the time. That’s when Bradley allegedly struck Gater and grappled with him for his service weapon, police said.
Former Police Chief Shirlene Anderson backed up the officer, saying there was no wrongdoing by him in his use of force.
But the lawsuit states Gater shot Bradley four times in the chest and abdomen and contends the officer violated Bradley’s right of equal protection under the law and his due process rights.
Read MoreYouth Prisons Finally Get Scrutiny - 13,000 Claims Of Abuse Filed In 3 Years
March 6th, 2008
COLUMBIA, MISSISSIPPI — The Columbia Training School — pleasant on the outside, austere on the inside — has been home to 37 of the most troubled young women in Mississippi.
If some of those girls and their advocates are to be believed, it also is a cruel and frightening place.
The school has been sued twice in the past four years. One suit brought by the U.S. Justice Department, which the state settled in 2005, claimed detainees were thrown naked into cells and forced to eat their own vomit. The second one, brought by eight girls last year, said they were subjected to “horrendous physical and sexual abuse.” Several of the detainees said they were shackled for 12 hours a day.
These are harsh and disturbing charges — and, in the end, they were among the reasons why state officials announced in February that they will close Columbia. But they aren’t uncommon.
Read MoreMississippi Criminal Prosecutions Relied On Self-Proclaimed Bite Mark Expert - Testimony In Hundreds Of Cases Subject To Attack
February 29th, 2008
MACON, MISSISSIPPI — At a small-town courthouse in one of rural Mississippi’s poorest counties, Dr. Michael West swore under oath that a dead girl had bite marks all over her body and that they were made by the two front teeth of the man charged with murdering her.
Such testimony had become commonplace for West. The dentist considered himself an authority on forensic odontology and had taken the stand at numerous trials as a paid expert for the prosecution.
On the strength of West’s testimony and little else, a jury in 1995 convicted Kennedy Brewer of raping and murdering the 3-year-old girl and sentenced him to death.
Three years earlier, West gave similar testimony in a nearly identical rape-and-murder case involving another 3-year-old girl from the same town. West testified there were bite marks on the victim’s wrist and they were made by Levon Brooks. Brooks, too, was found guilty and was sentenced to life in prison.
Read MoreYazoo City Mississippi Federal Corrections Officer Victor Dean Sentenced To 2 Years In Federal Prison For Bribery - Charged $200 Per Carton Of Cigarettes
February 28th, 2008
YAZOO CITY, MISSISSIPPI - A former correctional officer at the Federal Correctional Complex in Yazoo City was sentenced today to 25 months in prison and fined $1,500 on a federal bribery charge.
In April 2007, Victor Dean agreed to bring tobacco, which is prohibited in federal prison, to an inmate in return for the inmate sending payment to a person designated by Dean, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Jackson.
Dean brought five cartons of cigarettes to the prison and the inmate had $1,000 transferred via Western Union to a person designated by Dean. Once confronted, Dean confessed and resigned, according to authorities.
Dean pleaded guilty in December to the bribery charge.
Machete Assault Charges Against Hinds County Mississippi Judge William Singletary Disappear
February 28th, 2008
HINDS COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI - The case of a Hinds County judge accused of attacking a county tax assessor with a machete was heard in court Thursday.
Judge William Singletary was accused of threatening tax assessor Bob Merritt during an inspection of Singletary’s property.
Merritt testified Thursday that he felt Singletary overreacted by putting a machete to his throat while he was on his property gathering data for the county.
In the September 2006 incident, Merritt says Singletary led him off the property, to his car, with the sharp blade at his throat.
After Merritt’s testimony, the judge ruled in Singletary’s favor, saying Merritt should have worn identification and given more warning that he was going onto the Singletary property.
Read MorePublic Records, Sometimes… Criminal File Opened In Case Against Crazed Jackson Mississippi Mayor Frank Melton
February 17th, 2008
JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI - Mississippi’s open-records law is murky about when closed criminal investigation files can be opened, but Attorney General Jim Hood’s office gave the go-ahead last week to release the files on a highly publicized criminal case.
Jackson Mayor Frank Melton and his two police bodyguards, Marcus Wright and Michael Recio, were indicted Sept. 15, 2006, after investigators from the Hinds County Sheriff’s Department looked into allegations the trio ransacked a suspected crack house in west Jackson a month earlier. The grand jury also indicted the mayor on three gun charges.
Jan Schaefer, Hood’s spokeswoman, said investigative files can be released “if it’s closed and over with.”
Melton pleaded no contest to one gun charge and guilty to the others - all misdemeanors - and received probation. He and his bodyguards were found not guilty of the charges in a trial the following spring.
Read MoreFormer Hancock County Mississippi Deputy Sheriff Danny Hamby Sentenced To 4 Years In Prison For Meth After Raid On His Home
February 17th, 2008
HANCOCK COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI - Former Hancock County constable and sheriff’s deputy Danny Hamby on Thursday was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to crystal meth charges.
Narcotics agents raiding his Kiln home in June 2006 found 33 small bags of the drug, which Hamby maintained was for personal use, not distribution.
Harrison County Mississippi Deputy Sharon Howard And William Harrison Suspended For Dereliction Of Duty, Three Others Suspended Pending Investigation Of Four Inmate’s Escape
February 17th, 2008
HARRISON COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI - Harrison County Sheriff Melvin Brisolara on Thursday suspended two jailers for dereliction of duty and placed three others on administrative leave pending investigation of four inmates’ escape Jan. 27.
Deputy William Harrison was suspended 30 days, while Deputy Sharon Howard was suspended 15 days.
Gautier Mississippi Deputy Police Chief Dante Elbin Demoted
February 15th, 2008
GAUTIER, MISSISSIPPI - Deputy Police Chief Dante Elbin was demoted Thursday after the city’s Civil Service Commission ruled his promotion to the post was tainted by improper actions.
Robert Wilkinson, whose law firm represents the city and who is acting as city manager, removed Elbin from the post after the commission announced its findings. Commissioners assessed no blame for the process that has brought accusations and counter-accusations of hidden political agendas in city government, and Wilkinson stressed Elbin and Capt. Kenny McMellon, who filed a complaint about how the deputy chief post was filled, are not to blame.
“We will start afresh, we will start anew, and we will fill this position with the help of the Civil Service,” Wilkinson said.
Read MoreFederal Appeals Court Overturns Law Outlawing Sex Toys In Texas (And Mississippi) - Now For Alabama’s Law To Fall
February 14th, 2008
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — A federal appeals court has overturned a statute outlawing sex toy sales in Texas, one of the last states — all in the South — to retain such a ban.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Texas law making it illegal to sell or promote obscene devices, punishable by as many as two years in jail, violated the right to privacy guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.
Companies that own Dreamer’s and Le Rouge Boutique, which sell the devices in its Austin stores, and the retail distributor Adam & Eve sued in federal court in Austin in 2004 over the constitutionality of the law. They appealed after a federal judge dismissed the suit and said the Constitution did not protect their right to publicly promote such devices.
Read MoreRankin County Mississippi Deputy Sheriff’s Shoots And Kills Man With Taser Weapon
February 6th, 2008
RANKIN COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI - A 50-year-old man suspected of walking into a woman’s home and trying to rape her died after struggling with Rankin County deputies who used a Taser while trying to arrest him.
See Also: Rankin County Mississippi Jailers Disciplined After Allowing Convicted Sex Offender To Escape, Etc.
The Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol will investigate the case to determine whether the Taser was a factor in the death or whether the man died because of a medical condition, Rankin County Sheriff Ronnie Pennington said.
Tasers deliver an electric shock through wires attached to darts and are designed to temporarily disable a person.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene. His name was being withheld, pending notification of next of kin.
Pennington said he did not think the man died from the Taser shock. He said he thinks MHP toxicology tests might reveal drugs or alcohol played a part in the death.
Read MoreOlive Branch Police Officer Maj. Michael Todd Fulwood Pleads Guilty To Federal Obstruction Charge After Police Officer Adam McHann Has Police Attack Dog Bite And Maul Teen For No Reason - Assistant Police Chief Scott Gentry Is Awaiting Trial For Cover-Up
February 4th, 2008
JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI - A former Olive Branch police officer has pleaded guilty to federal charges of trying to obstruct a federal investigation.
Former Maj. Michael Todd Fulwood, 36, pleaded guilty Thursday to a felony charge of conspiracy to commit witness tampering in U.S. District Court in Oxford, authorities said.
The investigation dates to March 8, 2003, when Patrolman Adam McHann allegedly violated a teenager’s civil rights by ordering a police dog to bite and maul him for no reason.
Assistant Police Chief Scott Gentry and McHann are scheduled for trial Feb. 11.
McHann is charged with deprivation of civil rights.
Federal prosecutors say Fulwood and Gentry were not directly involved in the attack. However, in the weeks after it, Gentry and Fulwood allegedly tried to cover up McHann’s wrongdoing, telling a concerned fellow officer that filing a complaint might end his law enforcement career, according to the indictment.
Read MoreJackson Mississippi Police Run Out Of Crimes To Solve, Target Adult Video Store Selling (OMG!) Vibrators - Our Tax Dollars At Work
January 31st, 2008
JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI - Adult Video and Books on McDowell Road in Jackson is apparently selling illegal sex toys again.
Jackson police raided the store at least two times last year after an undercover sting. Three people were arrested and several boxes of sex toys were seized.
A “3 on Your Side” undercover investigation shows that the business is back at it again and is not even discreet about selling the devices.
WLBT received the tip, so we decided to go undercover to see if it was true.
Kandiss Crone entered the store and said “Hi…I’m going to a bachelorette party, I’m looking for a sex toy.”
After looking over the stock Kandiss said “Can i have that purple one?”
As soon as the sale was completed our team walked back into the store to confront the owner.
Read MoreFormer Harrison County Mississippi Jailer Preston Wills Is Really Upset That He Has To Serve 3 1/2 Year Federal Prison Sentence For His Crimes - One Of 10 Former Jailers Sentenced In November
January 21st, 2008
HARRISON COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI - “If you follow the rules, you’ll be all right.”
Preston Wills said that advice from his father, a longtime police officer, stuck with him as he pursued a law enforcement career through a corrections job at the Harrison County Adult Detention Center.
“I followed the rules and look where it got me,” said Wills, the 26-year-old father of a toddler.
He turned himself in last Monday at a federal prison in Minnesota. Wills must serve 3½ years on a guilty plea to conspiring to deprive the rights of county jail inmates. He’s among 10 ex-jailers sentenced in November in a federal investigation that prosecutors have said isn’t over.
Wills shared frustrations over problems at the jail in an exclusive interview as he set his affairs in order before reporting to prison. He also shared disappointment over his foiled dream of becoming a patrol officer and concerns for his safety.
Read MoreKeystone Kops: Investigation Begins After Police Chase Ends With Truck Crashing Into Home, DeSoto Mississippi Deputy Sheriff Assaults Innocent Man Checking On His Grandmother With Taser Weapon, And Officers Attacking The Grandmother
January 16th, 2008
FAIRHAVEN, MISSISSIPPI - We’re used to hearing about law officers using tasers to subdue suspects in criminal cases… but this case involved the use of a taser on a bystander in what amounts to a traffic accident.
E.E. Boone and his wife saw the truck whiz by them in a flash. “She was running right about 45 to 50 and he passed here like she was backin’ up, so I’d say 75-80 miles an hour then.” said Boone.
Dozens of police cars followed, but it was this house, which finally stopped the chase. “There must have been 10 to 15 police cars out here, besides the drug cars,. Drug cars, you name it, there was some of all of ‘em out there. ” Mr. Boone described.
During all the confusion, Greg Massey of Fairhaven showed up to check on his grandmother who lived in this house, but it ended with Deputies putting a taser to Massey, and other officers handcuffing his mother and forcing her to the ground.
Read MoreItta Bena Mississippi Police Officer Samuel Contreras Suspended After Drunk Driving Arrest - Previously Charged With Drunk Driving
January 16th, 2008
ITTA BENA, MISSISSIPPI - An Itta Bena police officer has been suspended without pay after being charged with drunk driving.
Samuel Contreras was arrested Friday night in Greenville and released on bond.
Itta Bena Police Chief Marcel Jojola said he immediately ordered the suspension when he learned about the arrest.
Jojola said Contreras had been back with the department for about three months after previously having served on the force several years before.
The chief said Contreras would remain suspended until a hearing.
“If he’s found guilty of the charges, termination will be in order,” Jojola said.
Jojola said Contreras had a previous DUI incident in 2005 but that case never moved forward.
Former Vicksburg Mississippi Firefighter Eric Raynaldo Johnson Sentenced To Just 4 Years In Federal Prison For Selling Drugs
January 10th, 2008
NATCHEZ, MISSISSIPPI - A former Vicksburg firefighter accused of selling drugs and attempting to bribe a Warren County deputy sheriff during a drug investigation has been sentenced to four years in prison.
Eric Raynaldo Johnson had pleaded guilty in October to attempting to distribute illegal drugs. The bribery charge was dropped in a plea deal with federal prosecutors.
Johnson was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge David Bramlette in Natchez. Johnson also was fined $3,300.
Johnson was arrested by the FBI on July 12 in Jackson.
Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said Johnson was only under investigation locally for the drug offense when a bribe offer resulted in the FBI joining the case.
Following the arrest, Johnson, an eight-year employee who was assigned to the fire department’s rescue unit, was fired by city officials.
Worst Prosecutor Of The Year Candidate: Forrest Allgood, Mississippi District Attorney for Clay, Lowndes, Noxubee, and Oktibbeha Counties - Sent 2 Innocent Men To Death Row - Employed Quack Bite-Mark “Expert” - Tried To Hide DNA Evidence In Rape/Murder Case And Prevent Testing Of Convicted Rapist
December 31st, 2007
MISSISSIPPI - Forrest Allgood, Mississippi District Attorney for Clay, Lowndes, Noxubee, and Oktibbeha Counties.
Allgood’s a long-serving DA who my sources say is about as good ol’ boy as good ol’ boy gets. He was most recently the prosecutor in the Tyler Edmonds case, where he solicited the infamous “two hands on the gun” testimony from Dr. Steven Hayne, testimony so outrageous it earned a first-ever (but long overdue) rebuke of Dr. Hayne from the Mississippi Supreme Court. Allgood may also be the first prosecutor (at least that I know of) to send two people to death row who were later acquitted.
Read MoreFormer Lucedale Mississippi Police Officer Frank Sanders Tipton Sentenced To Prison For Extortion For Having Woman Strip While He Worked As Probation Officer
December 1st, 2007
PASCAGOULA, MISSISSIPPI - A former probation officer will spend the next year in prison for offering to pay a woman’s fines and court costs in exchange for her modeling naked.
Circuit Judge Dale Harkey on Friday ordered Frank Sanders Tipton, 44, to pay a $5,000 fine and serve one year in prison day for day, with two years of post-release supervision for extortion. A Jackson County jury convicted Tipton earlier this month.
Harkey said he was saddened by the circumstances because he still could remember a time years ago when Tipton was “an up-and-coming and promising police officer in Lucedale.”
The judge Friday also referred to a taped recording of Tipton offering to pay the woman’s court costs and fines in exchange for her modeling naked and showering for him when he said, “You were indicating your willingness to be dishonest with the courts. This cannot be tolerated.”
Read MoreJones County Mississippi Deputy Sheriff Robert Dreading Arrested, Charged With Robbing Motorists
November 28th, 2007
JONES COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI - A Jones County auxiliary sheriff’s deputy is facing felony charges for allegedly abusing his power.
Robert Dreading of Ellisville was arrested at his home Tuesday afternoon by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. Dreading is accused of misusing his authority by pulling over Hispanic drivers, handcuffing them, and taking their money and other personal property.
Assistant District Attorney J. Ronald Parrish said tips from law enforcement officers helped catch Dreading.
Justice Court Judge David Lyons set bond at $10,000.
Prosecutors say Dreading could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted on each felony count of robbery. Right now he faces a single count, but investigators say more could be filed.
Nutcase Jackson Mississippi Mayor Frank Melton And Two Police Officers Indicted After Razing Apartment
November 18th, 2007
JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI - Mayor Frank Melton and two city police officers were indicted today for their alleged roles in the wrecking of an apartment duplex. They stand accused of malicious mischief, house burglary, conspiracy and directing a minor to commit malicious mischief.
Melton, a Democrat and first-term mayor, also was indicted on a charge of possessing and carrying a concealed weapon.
It is, to say the least, an unusual tale.
Our Gannett colleagues at The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson have much more, including an editorial — written before today’s news — stating that “if indicted, Melton should step aside for the best interest of the city.”
According to that editorial, “Melton’s behavior can only be described as bizarre, and counterproductive — and the latest charges may go beyond acceptable behavior in a public official.”
Jail Beating And Abuse Lawsuits Rain Down On Harrison County Mississippi
November 18th, 2007
GULFPORT, MISSISSIPPI - A Texas resident has filed suit against the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department, claiming he was beaten and abused at the county jail in an incident in 2005.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court, claims Gary Brice McBay was brutally beaten at the jail by corrections officers in the department after he was arrested Nov. 6, 2005, allegedly for being drunk in public.
The lawsuit also charges officials within the department denied and covered up the abuse after McBay complained about the incident and that he was denied medical care.
According to the lawsuit, McBay was hog-tied in the booking room and later taken into a shower where there were no surveillance cameras and beaten. The suit alleges McBay was held down by officers who repeatedly struck him in the face and head and that his head was slammed into a drain inside the shower.
Read MoreFour Former Harrison County Mississippi Jailers To Receive Prison Time, One Receives A Slap On The Wrist
November 6th, 2007
GULFPORT, MISSISSIPPI - Only one ex-deputy who cooperated with a government investigation of inmate abuse at the Harrison County jail will avoid prison time unless a federal judge rules otherwise today.
Timothy Brandon Moore, who quit his job in disgust in 2005, was sentenced Monday to four months of house arrest and five years’ probation. U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola Jr. said it’s likely Moore will be the only one of the defendants to receive such leniency.
“You exhibited an advanced trait of consciousness and humanity,” Guirola told Moore.
Moore is among nine ex-jailers to accept plea bargains in the federal civil rights case. He walked off his job in midshift in 2005 after witnessing former jailer Ryan Teel injure an inmate’s genitalia with a Taser.
Guirola sentenced four former corrections officers Monday to prison terms ranging from 15 months to 48 months. The other four defendants will be sentenced today.
Read MoreOlive Branch Mississippi Assistant Police Chief Scott Gentry, Maj. Todd Fulwood, And Police Officer Adam Mchann Charged With Civil Rights Violations After Attack On Man, Cover-Up
November 5th, 2007
OLIVE BRANCH, MISSISSIPPI - Three Olive Branch Police Officers have been charged with civil rights violations, conspiracy, witness tampering, and making false statements.
This is information you saw first on Eyewitness News Everywhere.
According to a five count federal indictment, the charges against Assistant Chief Scott Gentry, Major Todd Fulwood, and Officer Adam Mchann, stem from an incident that happened on March 8, 2003.
The indictment says Officer Adam McHann violated a man’s civil rights when he ordered a police dog to attack him. The indictment also says when another officer tried to file a complaint against McHann, Assistant Chief Gentry and Major Fulwood tried to cover up the incident. The indictment goes on to say, Fulwood and Gentry then told the officer that if he filed a complaint it would end his law enforcement career.
The following news release was sent to Eyewitness News Everywhere:
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