Jackson Free Press

*Updates and correction added below.*

Robert Smith is getting a nice boost from the Supreme Court less than 24 hours into his successful run-off against former Hinds County District Attorney Faye Peterson. Using $160,000 in grant money obtained by Gov. Haley Barbour, the Mississippi Supreme Court decided to appoint a second special judge to assist Hinds County in reducing its criminal docket, months after county residents—and the outgoing D.A.—began screaming for help.

Supreme Court press liaison Beverly Pettigrew Kraft said today that the Supreme Court in May 2006 appointed two special circuit judges for Hinds County. "The court continued Judge L. Breland Hilburn's appointment, and the court appointed retired Circuit Judge William F. Coleman Jr. as a special circuit judge," she said. "However, Judge Coleman became ill and was unable to hear cases." Kraft confirmed today that he became ill immediately after the May 2006 appointment and was not able to preside over any cases.

Justice Smith did not announce a replacement for Coleman until today, 15 months later. Retired Court of Appeals Judge Billy Bridges, responding to a Supreme Court order filed today, will begin handling cases immediately. His term will last until Dec. 31, though it could be extended indefinitely. Bridges will be joining retired Judge Breland Hilburn, who was also appointed as a special judge by the state.

According to Kraft, Justice Smith called and spoke with Assistant District Attorney Philip Weinberg personally yesterday—Election Day—telling him that he was about to appoint a special judge to fill Coleman's spot.

Peterson said today that she had no knowledge of the special appointment. "I have no comment on that," Peterson said, "but I knew nothing about it."

When asked about the timing of the appointment, Administrative Office of Courts Public Information Officer Beverly Pettigrew Kraft said the appointment would have occurred regardless of the run-off results. "The justice wanted to avoid the possibility that the appointment could become an issue in any primary election campaign," Kraft said, quoting Justice Smith.

Justice Smith acknowledged that the new appointment would be a boon to the county.

"Judge Bridges' appointment should double the effort in assisting Hinds County Circuit Court in eliminating the backlog of old cases that have inundated the system," Smith said. "This Court is committed to assisting our trial judges where the need is greatest. Hinds County citizens deserve extra assistance in dealing with this problem."

CORRECTION ADDED: This story originally said that Justice Smith had not appointed a judge to fill the spot Bridges will now hold. Kraft e-mailed to clarify that Smith had, in fact, appointed Coleman, who later took ill and stopped hearing cases. She also said it was "incorrect" that Peterson did not know about the judge before the announcement today because Smith had spoken with Weinberg on Election Day about it. However, Peterson said she did not know until today, perhaps indicating that Weinberg did not have a chance to tell her after speaking with Justice Smith yesterday. We hesitate to "correct" Peterson's statement based on the fact that the judge spoke with one of her ADAs less than 24 hours before we spoke with the D.A. today.

Previous Commentsshow

well, regardless of the question of timing, we ought to be thankful for the assistance. judge bridges is an honorable man and a respected jurist,although criminal law is not his background;before ascending to the court of appeals he served as a chancellor in rankin county during the same time or therabouts when justice smith sat as county judge for rankin county.perhaps this will lay the groundwork for the legisalture funding additional assitant DAs. the faye peterson i know will take advantage of this additional resource to advance the criminal doket,and surely leave her office much,much better than she found it.

chimneyville

Aug 29 2007

Nice of the Supreme Court to appoint a man to help with the criminal load in Hinds County who has very limited experience in criminal work. This is right up there with appointing a man who had never even been elected to the circuit bench to be the judge in the Melton trial. The same judge that gave a circuit clerk a pass for embezzling money and allowing him to run for office again. What does the Supreme Court have against Hinds County?

xxgreg

Aug 29 2007

Is that title supposed to be "The Cavalry Arrives" ?

Mark Michalovic

Aug 29 2007

Excellent point, Mark. Will fix now.

DonnaLadd

Aug 29 2007

Is that title supposed to be "The Cavalry Arrives" ? I fixed it. If you ever see any online errors, just email me.

LatashaWillis

Aug 29 2007

Done. Thanks! The weirdest part to me here is that it sounds like the chief justice was playing politics by holding back on a needed judge until after an election. Who cares which way the pie cut—either the judge was needed, or he wasn't. Why was Hinds County put on hold because the justice worried about the political effect of appointing a judge to fill an existing spot!?! Someone help me here.

DonnaLadd

Aug 29 2007

patriotictwist at gmail dot com

LatashaWillis

Aug 29 2007

Hmm. The Supreme Court intervened to spring Melton from jail. They put a judge in charge of his trial who let the defense make all sort of extra-legal arguments. They essentially consign Danks' reckless accusations against a sitting judge to legal limbo. I would never suggest that the Melton machine has some special relationship with the Supreme Court, but their disinterested deliberations sure do break his way every single time.

Brian C Johnson

Aug 29 2007

Well, par for the course, The Clarion-Ledger gives this lip service, and does not point out that Justice Smith waited 15 months before appointing a replacement for Coleman, and did it the day after the D.A. election: He replaces retired Hinds County Circuit Judge William Coleman, who was appointed last year but resigned citing health reasons. It is very clear to me who is playing politics here. Imagine how many more cases could have been "cleared" in 15 months with another judge in place. Also, Bridges concerns me with the following statement: "The judges can handle as many cases as (prosecutors) try," Bridges, 73, said. Is there evidence that this is true? We should Truthwatch this statement.

DonnaLadd

Aug 30 2007

"The judges can handle as many cases as (prosecutors) try," Bridges, 73, said. I don't know what question was asked that prompted the judge's reply, but if he volunteered that statement, it is like a statement that is made by Captain Obvious. What is not obvious to the public is that while the judges "can handle" the cases, their job requires absolutely no trial preparation, no interviewing of witnesses, no dealing with victims, no problems with making sure defense counsel has all needed discovery, no plea negotion. All judges have to do is put on a robe. With the Supreme Court hand picking judges who apparently have very limited experience in criminal matters, it is obvious that a judge would make a statement like the one attributed to Judge Bridges. He might want to consider that it is the JUDGES, not the prosecutors who set trial dates.

xxgreg

Aug 30 2007

Just Politricks, mam, Politricks.

justjess

Aug 31 2007