Mississippi College law professor Matt Steffey says that Mayor Frank Melton's health problems could diminish the "prosecutorial urgency" of the federal case against him for allegedly ordering the destruction of a Ridgeway Street duplex in August 2006.
"The sicker the mayor gets, the harder it is as a moral question: Is it worth the continued effort to bring this case to trial?" Steffey said. "We're not talking about a civil suit for the damage to the house. Nobody was injured. The mayor has not been out doing the sort of things that got him into trouble. I think at some point a prosecutor might reassess his objectives."
A sharp decline in Melton's health prompted a third delay in his federal civil-rights trial last week. On Dec. 31, less than a week before the trial's scheduled start date, Judge Daniel Jordan postponed proceedings for one month, after hearing that the mayor's heart condition made him unfit to stand trial. Three days later, Melton entered the hospital, the third time since November. City Information Director Goldia Revies would not give a reason for the mayor's hospitalization. She said Tuesday that the mayor would probably stay through that night.
Jordan had previously postponed the trial from its original Nov. 12 start date when federal prosecutors released thousands of pages of discovery material in the last few days before trial.
The judge heard testimony on Melton's health at a closed-door hearing Dec. 30. Melton's cardiologist, Myrna Alexander, told Jordan she had first diagnosed him with severe congestive heart failure and hypertension in 2005. She later diagnosed him with cardiomyopathy and coronary artery disease, for which he underwent bypass surgery.
Alexander told Jordan that Melton is now in end-stage cardiomyopathy and that she recommends a heart transplant. Cardiomyopathy, which literally means "heart muscle disease," is a broad term for a weakening of the heart muscle's ability to pump blood.
A court-appointed cardiologist, J. Murray Estess Jr., disagreed on the necessity of a transplant but added that Melton would be a poor candidate for transplant. Melton has said that he does not want to be placed on a heart transplant list.
After hearing testimony that Melton could benefit from a month to recover from surgery he underwent during his November hospitalization, Jordan postponed the trial until Feb. 2. "There is no dispute that Mr. Melton is just one week removed from congestive heart failure," Jordan wrote.
In his order granting the one-month continuance, Jordan ordered Melton to begin cardiac rehabilitation, follow all doctor's instructions and submit weekly progress reports to the court. Melton has complied with doctor's orders since his recent hospitalizations but has failed to do so in the past. Alexander and Melton's physician Robert Smith agreed that the mayor's lack of compliance has contributed to the severity of his current condition.
Despite suffering decreased stamina, nausea and shortness of breath, the mayor was working three to four hours per day from home before his most recent hospitalization.
University of Mississippi Medical Center professor and cardiologist Charles Moore said that work becomes increasingly difficult for people with advanced heart disease.
"Certainly, the more severe heart failure you have, the less able you are to tolerate physical activity," Moore said. "As heart failure progresses, more patients have to seek disability because of inability to continue to perform their occupation."
Though visibly weakened, Melton firmly stated his intention to run for re-election at a press conference on Dec. 30. "To be honest with you, if I had to get up every morning and had nothing to do, I'd be dead in six months," he said.
Jordan's order granting the continuance also warned the mayor that his remarks at a Dec. 30 press conference appeared to violate the court's gag order.
"Mr. Melton is advised that no further violations will be tolerated and that further infractions will lead to proceedings for contempt of court," Jordan wrote.
Jordan did not repeat the impermissible comments. The mayor made several oblique references to his trial and his alleged offenses at the conference, which ostensibly focused on new crime-fighting initiatives.
Asked by the Jackson Free Press if he would pledge to act legally from then on, the mayor replied in the affirmative.
"I'll admit to you, I've made some mistakes," Melton said. "But they were mistakes of passion. They had nothing to do with evil intent or vindictiveness or anything like that."
The phrase "evil intent" has been a focal point in pre-trial wrangling between Melton's attorney John Reeves, who wants jury instructions to include it, and prosecutors, who want it excluded.
If Melton recovers enough to stand trial in February, Steffey added, he may present a more compelling figure to jurors, as a sick man on trial for a crime of passion.
"I've got to think that sympathy for the mayor is running high," he said. "It was running pretty high in November, and that was three hospitalizations ago.
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