Jackson Free Press

(For background info and links to stories about the Melton indictments, see the JFP Melton Blog here).

A number of subpoenas have been issued in the Melton gun trial, set to begin Tuesday, Nov. 14. Most promiment among those subpoenaed are Councilmen Kenneth Stokes and Frank Bluntson.

Others subpoenaed thus far include Samuel Fisher, Mark Lyon, Amy Thompson, Amnda Edge-Gougeon and H. Lee Heatherington. Robert Davis, director of the Mississippi Office of Law Enforcement Standards and Training, will also testify.

Local media, including the Jackson Free Press, have filed camera coverage notice forms with the circuit court clerk. NBC Dateline has also filed to cover the trial.

This story has been corrected since it was first posted.

Previous Comments

ID

124250

Comment

I wonder if this case will be tried w/o Mr. Washington as he is mired in the fight of his life right now in Texas with a truckdriving death penalty client who is accused of letting several people die in the back of a van. Moreover, that Texas client isn't evening listening to Craig's advice. It's speculated that the Houston client maybe listening to a jailhouse lawyer more than he is Mr. Washington. It will take a miracle to save that Texas fool and Mr. Washington will be very tired and worn out even if that Texas trial is concluded in time to be here on Tuesday. Consequently, I smell a plea deal at the last minute or a continuance.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2006-11-09T17:43:35-06:00

ID

124251

Comment

Or, someone else handling it.

Author

ChrisCavanaugh

Date

2006-11-09T18:36:50-06:00

ID

124252

Comment

Interesting update, Ray. For what it's worth, I did hear Circuit Clerk Barbara Dunn say "it's on" in regard to this trial today.

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2006-11-09T18:38:50-06:00

ID

124253

Comment

I've had to reschedule a lot of my next week because of this trial. I certainly hope that Ms. Dunn is correct.

Author

hmg

Date

2006-11-09T18:45:23-06:00

ID

124254

Comment

This is one I want to see. Where exactly where it will be taking place and when on the 14th? By the way, is this information (date.time/place) posted anywhere on the web? I thought that I had once found a website which told me when city council meetings were going to be held but I've since lost that URL. As above, does anyone know if information about city council meetings, votes, etc. is posted somewhere? I'd think that should be a standard part of transparent government by now.

Author

lucdix

Date

2006-11-09T18:59:16-06:00

ID

124255

Comment

We should set up a MetaVid Site for Jackson government. http://metavid.ucsc.edu/

Author

papyromancer

Date

2006-11-09T19:12:47-06:00

ID

124256

Comment

Oh, that's an excellent idea. I'd say it's pretty clear we can't count on the city to increase transparency by itself. Does anyone know if the tapes of city council meetings are available for download or viewing from Jackson Public Access TV? Do they have a website?

Author

lucdix

Date

2006-11-09T19:18:06-06:00

ID

124257

Comment

We should be able to just set up a box to record from Cable TV, but that is assuming that the cameras in the council room are owned by the city and not the cable company... Digitizing the archives would be a pretty involved task, google doesn't say anything about existing footage, so I bet the archive is on tape somewhere in a professional (i.e. expensive to hack) format.

Author

papyromancer

Date

2006-11-09T19:24:37-06:00

ID

124258

Comment

The reason the web solution interests me is that while I have a tv, I only it to watch DVDs, gave up my cable connection long ago. The main problem I see is bandwidth - but I'd love to be able to seek out a city council meeting tape sequence just by typing in the time code here at my computer. What is the deal with the ownership / accessibility to the public of recorded city council meetings? That's one of the things Jackson Public Access TV does, right?

Author

lucdix

Date

2006-11-09T19:34:49-06:00

ID

124259

Comment

Well, you can go ahead and disqualify Mark Lyons as a credible witness as he is an open supporter of Melton and the person who ran the Harveymustgo.com campaign. No bias there huh? However, as cut and dried as this should be, I think Melton will get off with a hung jury or mistrial even though Mark Lyon and crew know for a fact he had guns on him. He always has a gun on him. He went into a church for a talk on art armed!

Author

pikersam

Date

2006-11-09T19:38:13-06:00

ID

124260

Comment

Actually, what would be best of all would be access to the transcripts marked by time code corresponding to the actual footage. Then we could scan the transcripts first. I know, I know....I'm dreaming as usual, but it sure would be nice. The more I think about how SR Sidarth videotaping George Allen and then posting the footage to YouTube.com led to Allen's defeat in this past election, the more I think that it's important to get as much transparency into government as possible.

Author

lucdix

Date

2006-11-09T19:39:47-06:00

ID

124261

Comment

No lucdix the City of Jackson doesn't stream their broadcast on line. That would be way to "advanced" for the group we have in there now running things. However, even smaller, less important cities have their meetings and minutes available on line. Even Tyler, TX has their mintues on-line! Jackson... that's another story!

Author

pikersam

Date

2006-11-09T19:43:46-06:00

ID

124262

Comment

Well, the City of Jackson website right now will tell us everything we need to know that took place in April, 2005 - what do you want? Back when I was watching TV, I thought I'd seen live city council coverage, but maybe not. Yet as I recall, certain members of the City Council walked out a few months ago after Mayor Melton refused to let the Jackson Public Access TV guy into the room to work. Good for Tyler, TX - but we can't let the Texans outdo us Mississippian, can we?

Author

lucdix

Date

2006-11-09T19:49:33-06:00

ID

124263

Comment

Here is the Sun Herald story on Rangel as found on Drudge, so this is getting play. It's a shame that they have to make this political. This was an insensitive and stupid comment by a typical politician. Call him out on it and do it with out making it party politics. Lordy!

Author

pikersam

Date

2006-11-09T20:05:04-06:00

ID

124264

Comment

Did anyone catch this report on WJTV this evening? Trials Delayed Because Of Melton Trial They played a voicemail from someone in the D.A.'s office explaining to the mother of a sex crime victim why the suspect's trial was pushed back. The link should be there for anyone to play.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2006-11-09T20:36:19-06:00

ID

124265

Comment

Oopps, that last post was supposed to be on the Rangel thread. If you can move it that would be cool!

Author

pikersam

Date

2006-11-09T20:42:36-06:00

ID

124266

Comment

Good post LW. Again they are trying to make a big deal out of his speedy trial. However, you cannot have government leaders running the City with indictments pending for months and months. It is in the interest of the the citizens, and himself, that his trail be expedited quickly. Another weak attempt by Melton's legal team....

Author

pikersam

Date

2006-11-09T20:53:17-06:00

ID

124267

Comment

so why are bluntson and stokes being called as witnesses for the defense?

Author

chimneyville

Date

2006-11-09T21:52:50-06:00

ID

124268

Comment

I thought Brian said these were witnesses for the prosecution. I wonder if this is a typo? Brian, can you clarify?

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-11-09T22:00:38-06:00

ID

124269

Comment

Donna: Stephen Stamboulieh, Robert Davis, and Amanda Edge-Gougeon have been subpoenaed by the prosecution. Frank Bluntson, Kenneth Stokes, Samuel Fisher, Amy Thompson, Amanda Edge-Gougeon, H. Lee Hetherington, and myself were subpoenaed by the Defense. We've all be interviewed (some, multiple times) by both the prosecution and the defense. They've also interviewed the other people who attended the event. It wasn't a big crowd, and we were all rather close to the Mayor while he spoke. To my knowledge, the only person who claims to have seen a firearm is Mr. Stamboulieh, and he waited a number of months before making the accusation. As for Pikersam's comment, I think every one of the witnesses who have been subpoenaed in this matter care much more about themselves than Frank Melton. I know that I do. Offering false testimony is not something that I (nor any of the rest of us) would consider, and I'm deeply offended that he would insinuate that I, or any of my classmates, would commit perjury for the benefit of Frank Melton. I'm not a Frank Melton supporter any more than I was a Rick Whitlow supporter. I was very strongly against Harvey Johnson because of the way he ran the City, and I am very glad that he is no longer mayor. Anyway, Adam and Donna both know how to get in touch with me. I've actually got some interesting stuff that I would like to share with either of you, but think it prudent to hold off and do so only after I've testified. After that point, please feel free to give me a call.

Author

hmg

Date

2006-11-10T11:08:47-06:00

ID

124270

Comment

I think it's important to note, regarding the trial delays, that Robert Smith, attorney for Det. Marcus Wright, was already fussing at the judge for not holding the trial sooner, and Green told him that there just wasn't any way to do it faster than this. (Note that this regards the spring trial.)

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2006-11-10T11:59:34-06:00

ID

124271

Comment

"I'm not a Frank Melton supporter any more than I was a Rick Whitlow supporter." ML O RYL? Are you saying that Donna should forward all the posts you made during the election over to the prosecution? I think any prosecutor worth their salt could show that you are not a credible witness due to your actions during the election. You've even gone as far to proclaim on this site and others that you didn't see a gun on Melton. Does that mean he didn't have one? I find your behavior surrounding this case to be suspect and easily challenged once in court. You've gone as far as altering your website after it was pointed out on the blogs some of your writting could considered be racist in nature to people. If you felt that way about the flag why are you hiding it now? Also, bloggers if you will notice the link on Mark's page for "Jackson Elections" comes up "Sorry, no posts matched your criteria" I've saved a screen shot just in case he deletes that too. I wonder what he has to hide?

Author

pikersam

Date

2006-11-10T13:49:48-06:00

ID

124272

Comment

Please leave me out of this fight. I'm not forwarding anything to anybody!

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-11-10T14:23:09-06:00

ID

124273

Comment

Sorry, I wasn't trying to put you in the middle. I just wanted to remind him that there are numerous posts on blogs in town that reflect his partisan views and his bias against Harvey Johnson. I'm not saying that is wrong. I think that would show he has favored Melton in the past and therefore his testimony could be tossed-out. I never implied he would lie or that others would as he implies I did. I think he would be suspect in the eyes of the court and jury. I think a majority of the public would assume Melton is armed at all times based on his comments on TV and accounts written about here on the JFP website. Comments like, "I don't carry one gun. I carry TWO guns!" Maybe it is just me; but, I would think it wouldn't be hard to prove you openly supported Melton.

Author

pikersam

Date

2006-11-10T14:54:18-06:00

ID

124274

Comment

According an article in the CL, the Prosecution has not subpoened anyone yet. Bluntson, Stokes, et al. were subpoeaned by the Defense. MarKL, I found it very saddending to read your comments "I was very strongly against Harvey Johnson because of the way he ran the City, and I am very glad that he is no longer mayor." When I hear generalized comments like these, I am driven to ask: What is it that you asked Johnson to do that he could have done but, didn't? What did Johnson do that you thought he shouldn't have done, but did? The closest answer I get to these comments are laced with ignorance, envy, jealousy, and just plain racism - take you pick! I watched the same type of BS during the Harold Ford campaign. It doesn't matter that these African-American Males are well educated, experienced, walked the straight and narrow, strong family values and in Johnson's and Ford's case, received praise and acolades from all over the world. Although there are so many complaints about the Black male: He holds the award for being the most incarcirated, crime, ignorance, poor English, dirty, nasty with a focus on a life-time dream of actualizing raping a White women and you know the rest. When we have Black males who are intelligent, financially secure (through hard work and good planning) good command of the King's English,well dressed, good hygeine and goes to bed at night with his wife and takes care of his children, he is hated. I have heard the stories: He (Johnson) is arrogant, unfriendly, needs to pull off his suits and roll up his sleeves, building a home in Madiosn, no chrisma. There are still Whites in this community who are fine with an African-American relationship as long as you are a yes-sa, no-sa, I can plow and hoe-sa; however, when the cap of intelligence, self direction and I don't need to be told what to do or how to do it is in play, "that brother is running the City wrong." He is an example of the empowerment of Black people and a positive role model: Those qualities which are necessary for the reduction in crime and for one to become the very best that he/she can become. Quiet-as-kept, this is a power movement and power is never given up: It has to be fought forand taken away. So Melton was put up to take Johnson down: A man who was not a registered voter until this past election: A man who did not believe in "set-asides or Affirmative Action:" A man who has no ties to Farish Street but has embraced the "Green Zone:" A man was strongly against Unions and crashed one at WLBT: A man whose whole life was nothing but a lie that could have been so easily verified by a do-nothing-media. But no, the focus was on getting rid of Johnson - a man who loves and worked hard to make Jackson "The Best of the New South! As for the statement from Rangle, he was definitely right-on because of the litnany of things that he and others recognize as failures of this State. We can not continue to run from these issues of race and pretend that just because Opra, Freeman and a few politicians have come into there own that this is a great place to work and live. When one enters MS, he is welcomed by the Confederate Flag - a hate symbol for Black Americans. You know the story. It took 30 + years to bring Justice for Medgar Evers and Vernon Damer. There was no MS justice for James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner's killers - only Federal Civil Rights violations. There was no justice at all for Emmitt Till, Jackson State students,Gibbs and Green, and Mike Charles Parker, to name a few. If their killers are not dead, they still live and walk among us. These and others issues are still fresh in the minds of people unfamiliar to our biography. I, along with others have braved and weathered the storm. The only thing wrong is the fact that Pickering and others are acting as if they don't know what the hell Rangle was saying. And in the words of Langston Hughes, Life for us ain't been no crystal stair."

Author

justjess

Date

2006-11-10T15:09:58-06:00

ID

124275

Comment

Marvelously said, justjess. You nailed it...every single plank!

Author

Kacy

Date

2006-11-10T17:20:16-06:00

ID

124276

Comment

Jess, you will have a response from me, via email, as soon as I get home. While I don't feel the need to discuss all of my criticisms of Mayor Johnson in this forum, I would value the opportunity to discuss those reasons and some of the issues you raised privately.

Author

hmg

Date

2006-11-10T20:49:31-06:00

ID

124277

Comment

Wow, justjess is going to get to hear the prosititute story from one evening when Mark was walking near Farish St. LOL!!!!!

Author

pikersam

Date

2006-11-11T12:17:30-06:00

ID

124278

Comment

Glad to see the web links fixed... nothing ot compare to before; but, they work

Author

pikersam

Date

2006-11-11T15:45:38-06:00

ID

124279

Comment

Gee... Notice the Ledge skips past the part of the story that should be written about... That one of Melton's star witnesses openly campaigned against Harvey Johnson and has posted all over town that he didn't see Melton with a gun at MS College. Typical CL protectionism! Melton's defense team, headed by former Jackson Mayor Dale Danks Jr., has called a number of Mississippi College students and one law professor. One of the witnesses, law student Amy Thompson, said she does not recall Melton having a gun at the gathering. In fact, Thompson said she doesn't recall what the mayor talked about. "It was such a long time ago," she said. Funny they can't get a quote out of the most vocal and biased of the students.

Author

pikersam

Date

2006-11-12T10:36:13-06:00

ID

124280

Comment

That story sure doesn't say anything, does it?

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-11-12T15:18:13-06:00

ID

124281

Comment

There really was not too much at all in that article, but it did note the groundswell of support the Mayor seems to have. That seems accurate. I think JFP has been pretty consistent and so has Mr. Lyon with regard to their opinions. As someone uninvolved with the history of those respective opinions with regard to the mayor due to lack of interest, I think they are both equally credible, although both are clearly biased. Should not really be a problem for a jury to figure out. I am not sure what the relevance of Mr. Lyon's dislike of Johnson, or Ms. Ladd's love of same has to do with what each is willing to testify to under oath. My bet is aquitted. Hi Papyromancer and lucdix, I would love to help if you need it with getting city council tapes online. Here was a desultory attempt to rip and offer video and audio. I just recently ripped the October 31st meeting and am doing last tuesday's currently. The big issue is time is chopping it up to match up with the agenda. Sometime, like for this meeting, the city does not bother to publish the agenda. Also, the recordings are of limited utility actually b/c the council, as is discussed repeatedly here, goes into executive session at the drop of a hat and in relation to anything you would be interested in hearing. The past audio rips are on webjay as well at http://webjay.org/by/nhooper/jacksonmississippicitycouncilmeetings Not encoded in ogg or theora, but thats pretty easy to fix. FYI PEG broadcasts the meetings on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. and again at Sunday at 3:00 P.M.

Author

Niles Hooper

Date

2006-11-12T18:00:22-06:00

ID

124282

Comment

Niles, I don't "love" Harvey Johnson. I thought he was a good mayor (at least by the second term), and a terrible campaigner. And he got badly screwed by the mainstream media and bad reporting. I'd also be hesitant to support him in another election bid, at least in the foreseeable future. As for my "bias" on Melton, I had none going into the campaign. I knew little about him. All of my opinions have been formed based on hardcore reporting, conversations with him and those around him and first-hand observance of his tactics. That is my job.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-11-13T11:42:10-06:00

ID

124283

Comment

Niles, my bias against Melton is that he lies and flouts the law. I mean, at a minimum, we *know* that *after being warned by the AG* the man *wore a gun* into a church, in clear and direct violation of the law. Which leads me to believe that he would have no qualms about carrying a gun onto a school campus. At this point, if one person says they saw a gun on him, I believe it. Melton's got a history of lying, and a history of carrying weapons, and a history of changing his story. That's my "bias." I can't wait to hear what Melton says while under oath, and how many times he contradicts himself. We need to start a drinking game, or something...

Author

kate

Date

2006-11-13T11:51:29-06:00

ID

124284

Comment

It's probably all the best for Jackson and Craig Washington that Craig isn't here. Having another client who won't listen to you is likely too much for any lawyer to endure back to back. But maybe Melton would listen to a friend of 40 years. In my opinion, Shirlene and the greed of the lawyers saved Melton in Meridian. From what I've read, it seems the evidence is somewhat scant about carrying a gun into MC School of Law which means there may be reasonable doubt as to whether he had one. I realize I don't really know the facts though.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2006-11-14T09:55:09-06:00

ID

124285

Comment

The Rules of Evidence should stop any mention of Melton also carrying a gun into a church or other places. This case is about the school not the church.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2006-11-14T09:57:36-06:00

ID

124286

Comment

Heh, I would not start drinking just yet kate, I am not sure Melton will take the stand. This is a criminal matter so he does not have to of course. One of the several distinctions between criminal and civil matters which was pretty routinely ignored in the zeal to see Melton "convicted" in Meridian. Another slight difference is the burden of proof, but hey, if we "know" he is a liar and gun-toting reprobate who had the timerity to ignore the mighty AG's stern warning, then an unbiased jury should not have a problem with some reasonable doubt. Perhaps love was too strong a word in retrospect and context, how about like, or respect, or general regard for? I am probably a little biased from the collateral opinions on the blog. Bias, at least in part, means it would be hard for you to follow the evidence in light of your previously formed opinions. Or, it could mean that you are more or less likely to remember or forget facts based on your preconceived opinions. Of course, who cares, Ms. Ladd is a witness, bias just goes to credibility on relevant facts, which kind of begs the question why she is being called at all. At first blush, Ms. Ladd has no testimony regarding the actual events forming the basis of the charge, so bias should be irrelevant......hmmmm -- (putting very crappy thinking cap on very pin head) except to attack Melton's statutory defense regarding death threats. Yes, I think her general dislike of firearms and the gun toting mayor could be used to demonstrate that she would have a proclivity to portray Mr. Melton's prior statements regarding those threats as being of a less serious character than he would seek to represent them in front of the jury, which I seem to recall already being mentioned somewhere. Pretty complicated defense though, and kinda risky to tell the jury well hey, even if I had a gun, I had every right to have a gun. Seems like you kinda need to pick one or the other to maintain your air of righteous indignation. The jury will sort it out pretty quickly I would think. On a different note, its nice to see free speech march on in the face of the trial, even with a gag order in place, when are you expecting to testify Donna? Also, did they actually invoke the rule for sure? I mean you know for a fact you won't be able to be in the Courtroom? Did you go to the venire and jury qualification today?

Author

Niles Hooper

Date

2006-11-14T23:54:55-06:00

ID

124287

Comment

Niles, not sure why "know" is in quotes in your post. We "know" that he totes guns into venues where he should not. We "know" that he has contradicted himself on numerous, public, occasions. Read the JFP interview series with him. Read last week's issue, which details his guns, and his relationship with Walker (one day protecting him, one day hunting for him, another day giving him money, - it makes my head spin). I agree that the MS College charges are open for debate, since we don't have a photo of him with his gun. And, I agree that I wouldn't make the jury on this one. What's up with your comment: "temerity to ignore the might AG's stern warning"? I personally don't need the "mighty". I personally wouldn't characterize Melton's actions as the "temerity" to ignore a "warning." I'd characterize them as the willful breaking of the law. The only criticism I think the AG and others get is that they let hiim off with a warning the first gazillion times he "toted" weapons illegally. As to anyone from the JFP being called to witness - have you read their coverage of Melton? It's extensive and detailed and coherent, which is more than I can say for any other media's.

Author

kate

Date

2006-11-15T09:57:45-06:00

ID

124288

Comment

Turn to WJTV! Plea of no contest to felony and guilty to misdemeanors. They're still before the bench.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2006-11-15T11:18:02-06:00