The Mississippi Supreme Court denied a motion from Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Tomie Green regarding sanctions against attorneys for Mayor Frank Melton, chief among them former Mayor Dale Danks.
On April 16, the Supreme Court sent the matter back to circuit court for an evidentiary hearing. In a motion filed May 1, Green argued that such a hearing was "unprecedented and unnecessary," citing several cases where the high court issued sanctions without such hearings. Green also argued that the facts were already before the court.
"(T)he trial court does not anticipate the submission of anything other than the offensive language used by Defendant Melton's attorneys in their applications and responses that are already before the Supreme Court," Green wrote.
In its decision today, the Supreme Court denied Green's motion, meaning that the evidentiary hearing will proceed.
"After due consideration the Court finds that the Trial Judge's Clarification Regarding Request for Sanctions and to Strike Disrespectful Language is not well taken and should be denied," Justice William L. Waller Jr. wrote in a two-paragraph order.
The Supreme Court did not explain its decision.
Judge Green's call for sanctions against Melton attorneys arises from a March 16 motion signed by Danks, in which he accused her of committing a felony for withdrawing one order and replacing it with a very similar order the next day. "Judge Green's actions ... are a clear violation of Mississippi Law," Danks wrote. "Mississippi Code Annotated Section 97-9-3, which states that tampering with records of the court is larceny subject to penalty of up to five years in prison."
That motion came amid a flurry of motions filed by Melton attorneys after Green issued a warrant for Melton's arrest for repeated probation violations.
Green has argued that "it is a well-recognized principle that courts have the authority to reconsider or withdraw their interlocutory orders at any time" and that "the trial court's exercise of its rightful authority cannot be equated with theft or fraud."
The first posting of this story reported that the Supreme Court had outright denied Green's request for sanctions against Danks. That is incorrect, and we apologize for the error.
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