Jackson Jambalaya

Say it ain't so? Yes, it is so.  Two Sisters is closed. The picture shown below was taken at noon today. 

Note: The subject of this post is not the attorney with the same phonetically-sounding but different spelled name at Baker Donelson.

Ridgeland attorney Allen Smith has racked up an impressive series of wins in lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson in St. Louis over products liability claims involving talc powder. However, the U.S. Supreme Court might have just thrown a huge freeze over his success in one day with a June ruling. 

The Justice Department issued the following statement.

Updated with press release from Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood. 

Christopher Butler was convicted of felonious possession of marijuana in Hinds County Circuit Court today.  The case was the subject of much controversy, as Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith tried to withdraw the indictment.  The Attorney General took over the prosecution of the case.  Judge Jeff Weill will sentence Butler Friday morning.  The indictment and part of the file is posted below. The jury deliberated for less than an hour before returning a guilty verdict. 

The City of Jackson will have to watch the fight in federal court over control of the airport from the sidelines.  U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves dismissed Jackson from Stallworth et al v. Governor Phil Bryant, et al today.  He said the City of Jackson had no standing to fight the state takeover of the airport in federal court.  The FAA nor any other federal agency had taken any action regarding the municipal airport.  Thus no federal question existed.  He also ruled the legislature's actions did not violate Jackson's due process or other constitutional rights.  JMAA remains a party to the lawsuit. 

The Answer Man returns to answer all the questions folks are asking about the Ole Miss football situation:

The Raymond Detention Center will no longer accept prisoners who are arrested for misdemeanor charges.  The new policy does not apply to DUI and Domestic Violence arrests.  The memo is posted below.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration demanded the Mississippi Department of Public Safety repay $7.1 million in DUI enforcement grants.  DPS stalled paying the federal government for several years, but the NHTSA finally said enough is enough and referred the debt to the Treasury Department for collection last November.  NHTSA also said Mississippi continued to have problems in using the grants. DPS refused to provide any records about the demands to this website but JJ was able to obtain them from NHTSA. 

Lindsey Miller denied any participation in the Great Maroon Conspiracy.  Rebel Rags sued Mississippi State football players Leo Lewis and Kobe Jones for defamation in Lafayette County Circuit Court on June 9.  The complaint also named Lindsey Miller and several John Does as defendants.   Lindsey Miller is the stepfather of Laremy Tunsil. A NCAA Notice of Allegations charged that an unnamed Ole Miss booster gave free merchandise to two unnamed players in violation of NCAA guidelines.  The President of Rebel Rags, Terry Warren, didn't take kindly to such allegations and made his displeasure quite known in the complaint.

Hinds County Chancellor Dewayne Thomas just issued a temporary stay of the Mississippi Ethics Commission order that directed Ole Miss to provide a copy of the NCAA amended notice of allegations with the unredacted names of boosters cited in the notice.  A hearing will be held on August 15, 2017.

Bravo! will close for several weeks as it undertakes renovations.  Don't take JJ's word for it.  Watch the video:

Siemens and M.A.C. settled their federal lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate dismissed without prejudice M.A. C. Associates v. Siemens et al on July 21.  The order states that the two sides settled the case for undisclosed terms.

UMMC issued the following statement. 

The Executive Committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People appointed Derrick Johnson as interim President and CEO of the civil rights organization.  Mr. Johnson has been the president of the Mississippi Chapter of the NAACP.  However, JJ readers will remember that Derrick Johnson was busted for operating a bogus charity several years ago.   JJ reported on August 30, 2013:

Neal McCready is tweeting that Ole Miss received the NCAA's reply to Ole Miss's response to the amended notice of allegations last Friday. 

The Mississippi Division of Medicaid issued the following notice last June:

Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith asked a federal court today to stop his retrial from taking place.  The petition for a writ of habeas corpus argues the Attorney General should be stopped from trying Mr. Smith for a second time since a juror allegedly and intentionally tried to effect a mistrial.  The petition is posted below. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves.  The D.A. was indicted by a Hinds County grand jury for improperly helping criminal defendants.  His January trial ended in a mistrial.  His second trial is scheduled to begin on July 30.

Nasty! That is the only way to describe what was recently filed in the Kimberly Bracey v. City of Jackson et al.  Kimberly Bracey sued the city and former Mayor Tony Yarber for sexual harassment that allegedly occurred while she worked for him as his executive assistant.    The case is currently winding its way through the legal process in federal court. 

Westworld won't return until 2018 but HBO released this trailer at Comic Con:

The Hookers & Hugh scandal has brought a few knuckleheads out of the woodwork as everyone tries to be a comedian.

The Board of Trustees for the Jackson Public School District is now short of a quorum.  WLBT reported:

If you can't make it to church this morning, enjoy this 1996 sermon by the late Dr. Frank Pollard.  He preached from 1Corinthians 6: 18-20.   Some readers will appreciate the irony of the topic.

Here is some red meat from Gene's Page for those who need their daily dose of Rebeldrama this morning. The post is Steve Robertson's tale of how the Mr. Freeze's Tampa services were discovered.  It is from a message board so take it for what it is worth. 

Speaking of doofuses, did you see Geoff Pender's column entitled "Did legislative leadership really fall for sports-betting rope-a-dope?" Or the earlier Mississippi Today story entitled "Lawmakers: Didn’t think law would legalize sports betting?"

Game of Thrones opened with this glorious scene that made Michael Corleone look like an amateur:

The Oxford Eagle gives the rest of the state media a lesson in how to present a hot story on the front page:

A so-called journalist at USA Today wrote this mindless politically-correct tripe about Dunkirk in his review:

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba nominated himself and newly-minted Chief Administrative Officer Dr. Robert Blaine to the 1% Sales Tax Commission.  He also said he expected the Greater Jackson Chamber of Commerce to give him it's four appointments to the Commission as well.

Press conference at 7:30 PM on ESPNews.   Read the bombshell story here. 

Jackson Ward 2 City Councilman Melvin Priester, Jr. issued this challenge to The Pamela Anderson and PETA on his Facebook page:

Attorney General Jim Hood issued the following statement.

The war between Steve Robertson and Ole Miss opened up another front yesterday.   Mr. Robertson won a round last week in his fight to obtain the names of the boosters cited in two NCAA notices of allegations that were issued to Ole Miss.  However, an unnamed booster, John Doe, asked Hinds County Chancellor Dewayne Thomas to void the Ethics Commission order.   The Scout.com reporter asked Hinds County Chancellor Dewayne Thomas to recuse himself from the case yesterday since he has connections to Ole Miss. 

Ben Allen will have to take his fight against Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith to another court.  Circuit Judge Winston Kidd denied his motion for a j.n.o.v. and a new trial yesterday.*  Mr. Allen was convicted of one count of embezzlement in February.  A grand jury indicted him for ten counts of embezzling funds from his employer, Downtown Jackson Partners.  However, the non-profit organization defended him and said he did not embezzle funds.  Judge Winston Kidd gave him a suspended prison sentence of five years and a probation term of two years. 

JPD issued the following statement:

Jackson Municipal Court Judge Ali Shamsid-Dunce released without bond a man accused of shooting a seven-year old child in the neck.  The Clarion-Ledger reported:

Ben Allen filed a notice of appeal in Hinds County Circuit Court Monday.   The notice states:

Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann issued the following statement and pictures. 

The low pay of Detention Officers has been a thorn in the side of Hinds County for quite some time.  The Justice Department blames much of the jail's problem on a shortage of employees, while the Sheriff blames the staffing shortage on the low pay scale.  An attempt by the Supervisors to increase the pay of the Detention Officers nearly ten years ago shows the problems in trying to give such raises. 

A seven year-old girl was shot at 11:09 PM last night in Jackson.  JPD tweeted:

Ole Miss booster John Doe isn't taking his loss at the Ethics Commission last week lying down.  He appealed the decision to Hinds County Chancery Court today.  Read the petition for yourself.

One more domino is falling in the Chris Epps scandal.  Teresa Malone filed a motion to change her plea from not guilty to guilty in U.S. District Court today.  A federal grand jury indicted her for one count of attempt & conspiracy and a count of bribery of a public official.  The motion states she accepted a plea agreement offered by federal prosecutors. 

The Jackson Municipal Airport Authority is advertising for bids for a a roof fall protection project for the west concourse at the airport.  The notice is posted below for interested parties.

It's time for the annual fund-raising drive for Jackson Jambalaya.

Thank you very much for your support of Jackson Jambalaya and reading the blog over the years. We've come a long way since we started up in 2007.  This blog couldn't have gotten as far as it has without support from the readers.  You've donated money, provided tips, and helped provide information when it was needed.  JJ is asking for your help again this year.

Correction: The post originally stated the BAC was 0.02.  The court documents actually state 0.02 or more.  

Peyton Horton pleaded guilty to two counts of Aggravated DUI in Rankin County Circuit Court on May 24.  Horton crashed his Jeep Wrangler on July 4, 2016, on Fannin Landing Circle.  One passenger was killed and two others were injured, as all passengers were ejected.  Horton will be sentenced on October 30.

Jackson Ward 2 City Councilman Melvin Priester, Jr. posted this update on city affairs on his Facebook page:

We might have gotten lucky with Episode VIII in the Star Wars saga.  Disney released a new video yesterday:

If you can't make it to church this morning, enjoy this sermon from the late Dr. Frank Pollard.  Dr. Pollard preached from Philippians 2:1-10 on how attitude is more important than facts.

JJ presents the Ole Miss Movie of the Week.