Jackson Free Press

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.

Previous Comments

ID

92754

Comment

Why am I not surprised?

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-05-31T16:27:22-06:00

ID

92755

Comment

So what the Supremes actually said was "The Tan Man rules all! All worship his majesty! Thou art a fool to oppose his wishes! We bow and kiss his feet!" Right? 'Cause otherwise this sounds like they've finally tossed Justice out of Mississippi permanently.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2007-06-01T10:21:49-06:00

ID

92756

Comment

keep us posted as far as the evidentiary hearing. my bet is Supremes are hoping to put enough time before they rule on it, don't want a hot potato?

Author

Izzy

Date

2007-06-01T15:49:29-06:00

ID

92757

Comment

No actually what The Supremes said was pretty clear. It should be denied and it was not well taken. The "Tan Man" was doing his job - and he did it well, as did the other attorneys. Judge Green never had a leg to stand on.... Both Judge Green and Mayor Melton neither one know when to shut their mouth. But man, if they did what would you have to gripe about?

Author

mommish

Date

2007-06-02T04:57:18-06:00

ID

92758

Comment

Mommish, is it clear to you that the court simply is requiring an evidentiary hearing at this point? They denied Green's motion not to have one. This is not—yet, at least—some big victory for Danks. This is a procedural issue.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-06-02T06:41:12-06:00

ID

92759

Comment

Looking for a place to post a comment about Frank Melton. Saw in the CL this am that Frank arrested himself one really bad dude, blew away the wisp of smoke floating from his gun, and said, "Damn, I'm good." Isn't this reply just PERFECT? Surprised he didn't say, "Man, I'm bad, aren't I." IT'S ALL ABOUT HIM!! Most narcissists believe exactly this way. HDMatthias, MD

Author

HDMatthias, MD

Date

2007-06-02T09:08:57-06:00

ID

92760

Comment

Yea, whatever mommish... Be proud, your Tan Man is suing the City again! Everybody get excited. This time he's representing the two kids that got punched on the school bus. Gee... I wonder how many millions he'll go for? How sad is it to see a man who "loved this city" (yet it was under his command that Jackson began to fall and he couldn't stop it) sits back and constantly put the screws to it? Yet, he is doing business with the City through the crooked billionaire project. And his 'crime summit' idea is a big bust!

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-06-02T09:54:09-06:00