Some things that caught my eye this morning:
- Jerry Mitchell has a story about the fact that Bobby DeLaughter reports to prison in McCreary, Kentucky on Monday. The story has no news in it (except possibly the note that DeLaughter has not responded to the state bar’s petition to disbar him) and a lot of comment from Matt Steffey, who observes “Fundamentally Bobby DeLaughter is a good public servant who made some serious criminal mistakes.” The article also states: “Steffey said he foresees DeLaughter working for a law firm as a jury consultant, strategist, arbitrator, mediator or the like.” I really have the sense that Mitchell is using Steffey as the reliable voice (as in always available to say what Mitchell wants in the story) for his feeling that DeLaughter’s prosecution of Evers should define DeLaughter, and not the pattern of corruption with Ed Peters as a judge.
- The Commercial has a summary of dining highlights from its reviews of the past year. The Creole-soul place DejaVu had already made my list of places to try, and I’m interested in the new Vietnamese place, New Que Hong (although I hope it isn’t just of knock-off of Saigon Le, which seems possible from the description. There are a couple of others of interest. Has anyone tried any of these? Tell us about it in comments.
- There’s also a best-Memphis-music of the year article that is very heavy with reissues at least for my interests (the Big Star, obviously, and also a compilation of soul songwriter George Jackson’s work in Memphis in the 70s and 80s, and of the Memphis Gospel label Designer records).
- Melanie Addington on her OxfordFilmFreak blog has an interview with Greg Philyaw, a 1994 Ole Miss graduate in Biology who worked on the special effects in the movie Avatar.
- The Tulsa World‘s headline about what-went-wrong-in-the-Cotton-Bowl is “Very Strange Occurrences: Weird plays and miscues stand out in Saturday’s loss’.
A few minutes after her alma mater won the Cotton Bowl yesterday, former Oxonian Caroline Herring was given ten minutes on NPR. Along with her music and being from Mississippi, Walter Anderson was discussed in the interview.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122110056
This passage was in an obituary in The Commercial Appeal today for Laurel native Fred Hearn:
“He played shortstop on the 1954 Southside State Championship team earning All-Memphis honors. While playing quarterback on the 1954 football team, Fred was voted the Southside HS Outstanding Team Player, selected to the All-Memphis team, selected by the Memphis Quarterback Club as the Prep Player of the Year and earning Honorable Mention honors on both the High School All-Southern Team and High School All-American Team. At the conclusion of the 1954-55 school year, Fred received the John Trust Memorial Award as the Memphis Prep League Best Athlete. He went on to quarterback on scholarship at both Ole Miss and MSU.”
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/commercialappeal/obituary.aspx?n=jerrold-frederic-hearn&pid=138099927
Happy birthday to Eli Manning, who turns 29 today.
I think it interesting that, so far, nobody has broached the possibility that DeLaughter’s prosecution of Beckwith, with Peters’ help, was itself corrupt.
I suspect that it was. While I don’t doubt that Beckwith was involved in the Evers assassination, I have my doubts that he was the real trigger man. I base that belief on my conversations with people who personally witnessed Beckwith’s alibi encounter with James Holly the night of the murder. Holly was no doubt telling the truth about when and where he saw Beckwith in Greenwood that night.
But now, I suppose we’ll never know who really pulled the trigger on Evers – though no doubt Beckwith is burning in hell right now for his role in the matter.
John Pittman Hey
Disregard.
I am not familiar with the testimony–much of it from then deceased witnesses from earlier trials and read into the record by court clerks–in DeLaughter’s framing of Beckwith in the triple jeopardy trial I have read R.W. Scott’s Glory In Conflict:The Saga of Byron De La Beckwith. The book covers the initial trial and the double jeopardy trial that followed, and the framing of Beckwith by Louisiana officials and the ADL.
What is most revealing by Scott is the keystone cops antics of JPD in handling the “drop” weapon recovered from the Clump. There is no way an impartial jury could have believed that a “partial” fingerprint could be linked to Beckwith. Even the FBI admitted that the spent bullet found by Evers’ body could not be linked to the “drop” weapon’s remaing six cartridges found in the magazine nor that the spent bullet was of 30-06 caliber.
The prosecution was never able to link the “drop” weapon found at the scene to the Enfield bought by Beckwith from McIntyre. Two million of those Enfields were produced and many ended up sold as war surplus to gun collectors and sportsmen. That the “drop” weapon found at the Clump was similar to the one Beckwith purchased from McIntyre was never denied by Beckwithn when he took the stand. He said that was rifle was similar, but he and McIntyre only traded the “metal” and kept their own “wood(stock).” Beckwith did add that his Enfield had a sling and that the one in the exhibit was without a sling.
The Beckwith testimony on the Enfield being stolen was the most compelling. He had reported the weapon as stolen and concluded that it was stolen from his Valiant as it was parked in front of his workplace.
Now I don’t think that Beckwith would report a weapon being stolen and then go out and assassinate a high profile civil rights leader like Evers and drop the weapon at the site.
That the his Enfield was possibly stolen by the FBI is corroborated by FBI agent STRINGER, now deceased, in the deposition linked below in which he claims that the FBI planted the so-called “ticking bomb” in his automobile that resulted in the double jeopardy trial that put Beckwith in Angola for five years. That sentence was later vacated by the Louisiana Supreme Court.
What was Mr. Beckwith was guilty of other that his public comments on race. I don’t that is a case for going to Hell.
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/fbisetup.htm
You can’t claim double jeopardy from a retrial after a hung verdict– Beckwith had no cognizable double jeopardy case.
I had trouble getting my mind around the court’s rejection of speedy trial issues.
On the other hand, the rifle does seem to have been the same one. I don’t really have a problem with the conclusion that Beckwith was guilty, while at the same time have never bought the view of DeLaughter as a pure-hearted hero from bringing the charge. He seems to have hoped it would be a platform for a run for political office, which it wasn’t initialy.
Friends of mine from the Delta didn’t think beckwith did it for another reason: They all thought he was too stupid to do it.
I don’t believe a law firm can employ a disbarred attorney in any capacity.
In regard to the Louisiana “ticking timebomb” case, the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana cleared Beckwith of all charges, among them “having possession of and transporting an explosive device and violating the Gun Contol Act of 1968.
After his acquittal, the State of Louisiana filed an indictment charging Beckwith with Transportation of Explosives without a Louisiana License or Permit..
A quintet of black women found him guilty. Beckwith was sentenced to five years in prison at Angola.
Does the “ticking timebomb trial” qualify for “double jeopardy?”
On the other hand, the rifle does seem to have been the same one.
I would tend to agree, too. That being the case, and reading FBI agent Stringer’s deposition that FBI agents were targeting Beckwith, and that FBI agents planted a bomb device in Beckwith’s car as it was parked in front of the Mayflower Cafe, I would conclude the probability that Enfield Exhibit #21 was used in the shooting, but by someone other than Byron de La Beckwith. It’s called “false flag” ops and the ADL and the FBI are masters of mass deception and coverups.
It is too bad that “empty suit” Mitchell has never followed all the “leads” in the Beckwith affair. Maybe Jerry Mitchell has learned from Jack Nelson and Danny Casselero not to gaze to far into the abyss?
That’s Danny Casolaro.
Why wasn’t there more on the fact the sling was removed. Beckwith knew his shooting style. So how was the tampering handled. Slings don’t mean much to the average shooter. So it wasn’t a free handed shot. Someone took the time to be very steady [sniper] in which case the sling might have been in the way. Just guessing, Beckwith used it to steady best he could for hunting and still made use when hauling his prey. It seem important to him to mention.
” It’s called “false flag” ops and the ADL and F.B.I are masters of mass deception and cover. HA,ha,ha,ha,ha Maybe at one time. And they still do OK at snuffing citizens in this counrty IF THEIR HELPLESS. Do your history bud and you would be hard pressed to find anyone as half as good as the ninja clans of 1400′s – 1600′s. Not just the aclaimed killing arts but the entire life style. Come to think of it. It was the only thing the ruling class samaria feared. Any way to understand the courts in the State of Louisiana or Mississippi it would take a masters degree in oxymoron.
arbitrator, mediator or the like
My god. Who in their right mind would hire DeLaughter for a position so dependent on trust? What is Steffey smoking?
They all thought he was too stupid to do it.
I had an interesting conversation with a man who as a child knew Beckwith slightly. He said Beckwith had a photographic memory — could glance at a newspaper page and recite its contents — and could charm squirrels off trees and onto his shoulders. Also that Beckwith greatly enjoyed blowing things up. I think Beckwith was more weird than stupid.
NMC, Beckwith’s double jeopardy claim was based upon the fact that the original indictment was dismissed. He was re-indicted for the same acts. Prior to Beckwith, that was double jeopardy, plain and simple, under Mississippi law.
And, as you note, his Sixth Amendment speedy trial rights were completely ignored.
Ed and Bobby both thought that their prosecution of Beckwith was BS but Ed didn’t feel he had a choice politically because of the Clarion-Ledger. So Ed and Bobby went ahead and always thought the appellate courts would throw out the conviction. There was nothing noble about the prosecution – it was naked politics.
Did Beckwith kill Evers? Probably. Should Beckwith have gone to prison? Hell, if he shot the man in cold blood, Beckwith should have been fried. Should we have ignored the constitution to assuage white guilt about the civil rights era? Hell, no – two wrongs do not make a right, to coin a phrase.
Meanwhile, we’ve given the full panoply of constitutional rights to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. And, again, its nothing more than naked politics.
More and more, the constitution is just a piece of old and fading paper, invoked or ignored whenever it is convenient.
Revised version of the Minor-Teel-Whitfield opinion is up, with as usual no clue as to what the revisions were. I hate when they do that.
Ed and Bobby both thought that their prosecution of Beckwith was BS but Ed didn’t feel he had a choice politically because of the Clarion-Ledger. So Ed and Bobby went ahead and always thought the appellate courts would throw out the conviction.
That is interesting and even plausible, but I wonder whether you have any factual basis for that claim?
If merely being indicted and then having the indictment dismissed and then being re-indicted under the same facts was double jeopardy under Mississippi law, then the law needed to be changed.
Consider the Mississippi Constitution:
No person’s life or liberty shall be twice placed in jeopardy for the same offense; but there must be an actual acquittal or conviction on the merits to bar another prosecution.
Wasn’t “dual sovereignty”–claiming the crime occurred on government property(National Forest)– used to re-prosecute Avants for a crime that he was acquitted of by the State court?
Is it double jeopardy?
{SNIP}
…According to the charges against him, Hennis is accused of stabbing and cutting Eastburn and her daughters with a sharp object. Investigators never found the knife used in the murders.
The Army dropped the rape charge against Hennis because the statute of limitations had expired.
The Army is able to try Hennis twice for the same crime because of the dual sovereignty doctrine, said Eugene Fidell, an attorney specializing in military law and president of the National Institute of Military Justice.
The double jeopardy clause applies only to courts in the same jurisdiction, Fidell said; because Hennis was first tried in state court, he can be tried again by the military, which is a federal entity.
“The first trial doesn’t prevent the second,” he said. “It’s still quite unusual for the government, as such, to get a second bite at the apple.”
And while it’s unusual for the Army to recall a retiree to active duty, it is not unheard of, Fidell said.
“This happens occasionally when the government wants to punish somebody when they don’t have a more direct route to get at them,” he said. “It’s unusual and on a certain level I think it rubs people the wrong way, but it can happen.”…
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/01/army_hennis_080120w/
Where have I heard this before?
{SNIP}
“If there is DNA, let’s look at what happened,” he said. “I’d be very interested in seeing the chain of custody on that piece of evidence.”
Anderson, the horse’s mouth, or horses’ mouths.
A quintet of black women!?
I realize that deep Mississippi stuff is being discussed here, and I’m an outsider, but my Spidey sense is tingling with strong intimations that something’s not quite right…
prior to beckwith, and presently, jeopardy attaches in a jury trial when the jury is sworn to try the issues; in a non jury trial, when the first witness is sworn to testify. the state has been entitled to dismiss faulty indictments by nolle prosequi, with the approval of the judge, and reindict throughout history.
Irregardless of Beckwith, DeLaughter sold the courthouse and his previous deeds, good or bad, do not undo that act. Frankly, why would any client of a law firm want this guy around any sensitive matters; then, what reputable firm would want him?
So, Observer, Peters and DeLaughter told you this?
think I used wrong email on previous post
Irregardless of Beckwith, DeLaughter sold the courthouse and his previous deeds, good or bad, do not undo that act. Frankly, why would any client of a law firm want this guy around any sensitive matters; then, what reputable firm would want him?
Exactly, Chumba. Opposing counsel says “let’s use DeLaughter to mediate,” my first reaction is, “so what have you paid him?”
Steffey needs to have his coffee first before talking to Jerry Mitchell.
Which is why he’ll go into something that accepts sketchy people like jury consulting.
Preaching on TV is the way to go. Big money in it. Charisma helps. Prior wickedness is a plus. Lapses are expected, and when you have one it’s not like being disbarred, you just climb back on the wagon.
Commentor~
Your comments on BoynamedSioux claims that…
the state has been entitled to dismiss faulty indictments by nolle prosequi, with the approval of the judge, and reindict throughout history.
So, the State is “entitled” to reindict throughout history and “trump” double jeopardy protections?
The protection against double jeopardy is a protection against being retried, not a protection against being indicted or reindicted. “Jeopardy” means seating a jury, period. And a mistrial does not count against the government unless under very limited circumstances the government causes it on purpose– a mistrial for a hung jury does not bar a retrial.
A nolle pros pretrial (or after a hung jury mistrial) means double jeopardy rights are not triggered.
One of the more annoying features about blog comments on legal issues is folks who insist on ignoring what the terms mean to courts and lawyers. It’s all well and good to have your own personal definitions, just don’t talk to us about them.
Irregardless — non-standard or humorous use of regardless. So, you’re supposed to laugh when someone uses the word “irregardless.” Hahahahaha.
Kingfish, it sounds like your “friends” thought someone with intelligence could carry out such a horrible crime? What kind of friends do you have? Do they wear white sheets? Do you think Klukkers are smart?
My child was stolen from me through crooked courts in Meridian Ms. My life has been grief..and I have’nt been able to undo the wrong though I have tried..I am not rich enough to buy my rights..The lawyer I got was in collusion with my ex husbands lawyer..At the time I was still married to the woman beater who stole my child and got lieing witnesses to come to court for him..and it was all just a Kangaroo court.
I begged Bobby DeLaughter to help me..I begged Graves Thomas of Shreveport(my home town) to help me..and Stacy Freeman..of Shreveport..Well known attorneys..I did have money so they ignored me..Graves Thomas was struck by lightening..Stacey Freeman was killed near his law office by a drunk driver.
God is watching..how his daughters are treated and I hope the time has come when the ungodly are fearing in tremble..so we can watch for the day when The Saviour will return.
I could’nt edit my comment earlier..I am the one whose daughter was stolen through crooked courts in Meridian Ms.
I said I did have money..I did Not have money..so I was a victim of the cruel Kangaroo court system in Mississippi.
God is watching..These evil doers wont get away with their evil.
Patty Owens