"Ask your mayor."

The case of Sharrod Moore took a shocking turn yesterday. After having one of his assistants do the dirty work of dismissing the case against Mr. Moore, DA Robert Shuler Smith met with the media outside the courthouse and alleged that "certain officers and officials" engaged in a cover-up with respect to the killing of R.J. Washington. (WJTV story here; WLBT video here.)

This is not the first time DA Smith has alleged that a cover-up was hindering his investigation. He told the Jackson Free Press almost the same thing nearly one year ago. The key difference this time is Smith's use of the word officials when assigning blame.

I remember how odd the indictment of Sharrod Moore seemed at the time, back in January of 2008. Mayor Melton's appearance before the television cameras to announce the indictment felt weird enough, considering Melton was the mayor, not the District Attorney, police chief, sheriff, etc. Furthermore, Melton was so excited about the indictment that he held the press conference before Moore was in custody, a seeming violation of Section 99-7-9, which prohibits publicity of indictments when the indicted person is not in custody.

The bone-chilling moment came, though, when Moore was being escorted through the tunnel between the Hinds County Circuit Courthouse and the Downtown Detention Facility. When asked by one of the handful of reporters following him why he was being indicted now, Mr. Moore simply replied, "Ask your mayor."

As the case progressed, things became even more surreal. First, DA Smith met secretly on several occasions with accused capital murderer Stephan Hickman and took a sworn statement from him, all without the knowledge of Hickman's counsel. Then, DA Smith saw fit to release the transcript of the statement into the public record by attaching it to a motion. The transcript tells a wild, detailed story, in which Melton is the "Prince" of the Jackson drug trade, and Sharrod is the "Knight." Both are supposedly controlled by an unnamed figure called "the Pharoah." According to Hickman, Sharrod was to make quarterly payments to Melton. Hickman goes on to tell a version of events in which Melton, Moore, and Washington are engaged in, umm...inappropriate activities. According to Hickman, Melton ordered Moore to kill Washington so as to show Moore's loyalty to Melton.

Hickman's story has largely been proven false, at least with respect to the particulars of who was present at the time of the killing of R.J. Washington. But one has to wonder, to what extent, if any, is DA Smith now looking at the deceased Melton as a player in this ordeal? After all, the word "officials" is new, and connotes some person or persons other than JPD officers.

Does Uncle Tom Go Both Ways?

I promise I'm not obsessed with Assistant DA "Uncle Tom" Levidiotis of Oxford, although I have posted twice before about his exploits.

http://jimcraigsworld.blogspot.com/2009/02/with-enemies-like-this-who-needs_06.html

http://jimcraigsworld.blogspot.com/2009/01/uncle-toms-courtroom.html

But I thought my readers would want to know that, although he now is a full-time prosecutor for the State of Mississippi, Mr. Levidiotis is still listed as counsel of record for prisoners in habeas corpus proceedings AGAINST the State of Mississippi.

For example, the PACER docket in the U.S. District Court (Southern District of Mississippi, Hattiesburg Division) in the case of Stevens v. Epps, Civ. Action No. 2:04-cv-00118-KS, lists Mr. Levidiotis as "Lead Attorney" for Mr. Stevens.

That docket also reports that on November 18, 2008, Mr. Levidiotis filed a Rebuttal in Support of Mr. Stevens' Motion to Alter Judgment and Motion to Alter or Amend Pursuant to Rule 59(e).

Another one:

The PACER docket in the U.S. District Court (Northern District of Mississippi, Greenville Division) in the case of Branch v. Epps, No. 4:07-cv-00138-MPM, lists Mr. Levidiotis as one of the "Lead Attorneys" for Mr. Branch. ADA Levidiotis filed a motion for Mr. Branch (a "Motion for Leave to File Responsive Pleading") as recently as January 28, 2009.

Finally:

The Fifth Circuit docket for Simmons v. Epps, No. 08-70048, lists Mr. Levidiotis as one of the attorneys for Mr. Simmons. He entered his appearance on December 19, 2008, and was issued a voucher for Federal payment for his services on January 14, 2009.

Am I the only one who thinks this isn't quite kosher? I suppose a newly appointed public employee is allowed to carry on his prior work long enough to keep his clients from being prejudiced. But Mr. Levidiotis is not the only attorney for the prisoners in any of these cases; surely it wouldn't be an issue for him to withdraw. And does the "winding down" rule apply when one has what appears to be a direct conflict of interest?

Maybe this is just the Mississippi legal system, once again, cutting corners on fundamental principles. But it smells fishy to this writer.