Ellington

JFP Melton Blog/Archive/Tweets

Defense attorneys began cross-examining former mayoral bodyguard Marcus Wright this morning. Yesterday, Wright testified that Jackson Mayor Frank Melton had been drinking the night of the Ridgeway Street duplex destruction, and that as the mayor broke windows along the outside of the home, he boasted, "I want them f*cking people to know I'm not playing with them."

Wright's former colleague and mayoral bodyguard, Michael Recio, joins Melton as a co-defendant in his federal trial. In cross-examination, Recio's attorney Cynthia Stewart prodded Wright about his motive for testifying.

"You fully expect that you are getting less than a year?" Stewart asked Wright.

"I'm hoping to get less than a year. I don't expect anything," Wright replied. "I haven't been promised anything."

Wright pleaded guilty to a lesser conspiracy charge in October 2008 following the July indictments against the three men in exchange for his testimony.

In re-direct, Wright reiterated yesterday's testimony, saying that Melton had been so drunk the night of the duplex demolition that he was staggering on the stairs at the New Orleans Saints game he attended prior to visiting 1305 Ridgeway St. In cross-examination, however, Melton's attorney John Reeves reminded Wright of his Oct. 7, 2008, testimony in which he said Melton had been drinking, but that it did not "impair" his movements or ability to act deliberately.

Reeves harped on the subject, telling Wright that he can't call Melton a "commode-hugging drunk" one minute and then say he wasn't impaired. Wright pointed out that he didn't say that Melton was a "commode-hugging drunk," and Reeves responded that those were his words.

The defense later skirted around the question of drug activity at the duplex, and established that a crack pipe had been recovered from Evans Welch's home after the demolition. Judge Dan Jordan has ruled not to admit any evidence of specific past drug activity at the duplex. Wright remained very calm during the cross-examination, which seemed to rattle the defense as they searched for a way to get in their theory that the duplex was a drug house. That would not be a defense to the crimes charged, but might sway the jurors on the question of Melton's intent.

At one point, Reeves seemed bent on getting the word "prostitute" into the proceeding. He asked Wright about earlier statements to the FBI that he had walked down the block and told a group of people to move on, but he didn't know who they were. Reeves then asked to show Wright an earlier transcript, in which Wright said they were a group of "prostitutes" on the corner. Wright agreed that they were, but that he didn't know them personally. Reeves asked how long he talked to them, and then seemed incredulous when Wright said he talked to them for probably two minutes, but didn't know them. Wright then explained that they had a back-and-forth about the need to move along.

Then Reeves asked why Wright didn't arrest them if they were prostitutes. "Isn't prostitution illegal?" he demanded.

"They weren't in the act of prostitutin'," Wright answered calmly.

After lunch, which for the jurors was pizza brought in from Miller's Grocery, Reeves resumed cross-examining Wright. He tried to undermine the bodyguard's credibility by suggesting that Wright was simply trying to avoid jail time. Before he pled guilty, Wright faced up to 40 years in prison and the limited future employment that comes with a felony conviction, Reeves said.

"The reason you pled guilty was to avoid all that, wasn't it?" Reeves asked Wright.

"And because I am guilty," Wright responded.

Overall, Reeves' questioning of Wright appeared mostly unsuccessful, with Wright remaining calm and collected with his answers. Reeves made another in a series of errors about what Wright had previously said in testimony, and tried to get Wright to admit that he had heard people yelling, "Here come the folks!"—a common warning about police—but Wright pointed out that he had not heard that, or testified to it. As he had been late morning, Reeves' attempts to get at talk about drug activity in the duplex were blocked by a series of "hearsay" objections from Blumberg, which were sustained.

Reeves concluded some time after 2 p.m., and prosecutor Blumberg began his re-direct, focusing on the confusion over the alcohol that Reeves had attempted to create earlier in the day. Wright explained that Melton was "impaired" at times and "under the influence" at other times. He also added that Melton had built up "significant tolerance" to alcohol and could be under the influence without appearing impaired. Wright said that he and Recio picked up the mayor's alcohol for him, and that he saw him under the influence "every other day."

The prosecutor also asked Wright more about the false affidavit he had helped Melton file to have Albert "Batman" Donelson picked back up after he was acquitted in April 2006. He said that Melton typed it up on his home computer and got Wright to sign it. The other bodyguard did not sign it. "He (Recio) told me he was glad he didn't put his signature on it," Wright said of the bodyguard also on trial with Melton.

About 2:45, the government called JPD's Tyrone Lewis, who is now deputy chief. At the time of the duplex attack, he was a commander and city spokesman. The government and the defense also agreed on a stipulation that allowed the prosecution to skip its next two witnesses. They agreed to three facts about: (1) There were no 911 calls on the duplex on the day of the raid. (2) There was one call for service when Recio called for a background check on Evans Welch and an officer was dispatched. (3) No search warrants were executed at the house on Aug. 26, 2006.

Lewis testified that he got a call from WLBT on the evening of Aug. 26, 2006, to inquire about Melton cutting his hand. He, in turn, called Recio, who said that Melton had "cut his hand on some glass, chasing some drug dealers." JPD rules forbid officers to make false statements to superior officers. Lewis was Recio's superior officer, but not his supervising officer.

After brief testimony from John Kelley, who taught Michael Recio 4th Amendment training in 1992, the government called Pieter Teeuwissen from the city attorney's office.

The prosecution questioned Teeuwissen to show that Melton had notice of a legal way to close buildings such as the Ridgeway duplex by conducting nuisance proceedings. Teeuwissen apparently had told the mayor the proper way to close a building suspected of housing drug activity at a June 5, 2005 meeting, more than a year before the duplex attack.

Reeves objected because he says that the communication was attorney-client privilege because Teeuwissen was acting as deputy city attorney at the time and any other times after Melton became mayor because he would be the "client" of the city attorney's office, but that argument did not go anywhere.

Capping off what could be seen as a bad day for him, especially when it came to dealing with objections—his and the prosecution's—Reeves also objected to part of Teeuwissen's testimony as "hearsay," but Jordan pointed out that legally it was not hearsay if Melton was telling him that directly.

At the end of the day after Teeuwissen left the stand, Jordan dismissed the jury and inquired about Melton's health. "You look substantially better than a month ago," the judge said to the mayor. Melton confirmed that he was feeling better, that he was on a new medication, that he had lost 40 pounds, most of which was fluid that had accumulated. "My breathing is a lot better. I'm doing fine," he said.

The trial re-convenes at 10 a.m. Thursday.

Watch for more minute-by-minute coverage of Day 3 in this space until court adjourns for the day.

Previous Comments

ID

143499

Comment

Translation: They placed the pipe (straight line) at the house AFTER THE DEMOLITION.

Author

justjess

Date

2009-02-11T14:52:05-06:00

ID

143502

Comment

I wonder why they've got Teeuwissen up there. This sounds like a pretty grim day for Melton. In sum, a) he was routinely drunk, b) he regularly pressured his police bodyguards into lying in order to cover his butt, c) there were no warrants or police calls on the house, d) it was his idea to go to the duplex. The summer of 2006 will be remembered as the season when Melton flew completely off the tracks.

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2009-02-11T16:37:37-06:00

ID

143503

Comment

Oh, and this is a memorable quote: "They weren't in the act of prostitutin'."

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2009-02-11T16:43:25-06:00

ID

143504

Comment

See update above, Brian, re Pieter. I would say it's been two grim days for Melton and Recio, and one mostly grim day. Much of the media aren't capturing what's really happening, so be careful when reading other reports. You would have loved this moment, though: When Dale Danks was walking by Chris Joyner of the Ledger, he said something and Joyner reached out and affection-punched his arm. Somehow, I can't imagine you doing that. ;-) Also, the youngish attorney who works with Danks (and was part of the Melton defense team; Michael something) snickered a lot during Reeves' attempt to take down Sutton. Could have been about something else, but didn't look good to me.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2009-02-11T16:58:11-06:00

ID

143507

Comment

Donna, I just saw WAPT footage of you sitting outside the courthouse while Melton was going in. It looked like he said something to you, but I couldn't tell.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2009-02-11T22:05:21-06:00

ID

143508

Comment

What a difference having a real judge makes! I can recall that during the State case against Melton, Judge Webster would not allow any evidence of Melton's drunkeness. He also disallowed the testimony of Tyrone Lewis regarding the phone call with Recio. He also disallowed Lewis' testimony regarding JPD general ORDERS which Lewis' stated were "discretionary." The fact that Recio lied about Melton's injury clearly shows that Recio knew that they were doing something illegal. I guess Jim Smith's pick got the job done for Dale Danks and company. Thank God Smith is gone.

Author

clarkkent

Date

2009-02-11T22:11:04-06:00

ID

143511

Comment

Reeves seems to be making a poor showing thus far in the case. Makes you wonder what Dale Danks knew when he declined to represent Melton the second time around.

Author

chaffeur

Date

2009-02-12T00:20:34-06:00

ID

143512

Comment

L.W., I just watched the footage at WAPT. That was me (and our photographer Kenya). Melton has been B.S.-ing with me about every time he sees me. I've been there part of every day since Monday taking it all in. I noticed that same WAPT report talked about the judge's warning about a reporter trying to sneak a camera inside the courtroom: After returning from a lunch break on Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Dan Jordan said a reporter tried to sneak a camera into the courtroom. He didn’t identify the culprit, but warned reporters not to do it again. Cameras are not allowed inside federal courtrooms. Under Mississippi law, they are allowed in state courtrooms. I'm wondering if I inadvertently caused that particular firestorm; if so, it got exaggerated before it got to the judge. Coming back into the courthouse after a break, I was standing in line for security next to Terrence Womack, who was wearing this great Obama "Yes, We Can" t-shirt. As we got to the front door, I told him I needed a court-fashion photo of him. I had my cell phone in my hand -- the judge allows them for reporters for text-only in the courtroom -- so I snapped his picture. We were moving slowly in line as we were talking and by the time I took his picture, we were just on the inside of the front door, before security. After I went through security, a guard told me to remember not to take pictures in the building, and I apologized. Maybe I'm the unidentified "culprit"! I hope my dumb mistake at the front door didn't get turned into my trying to sneak a camera into the courtroom because that is decidedly not what I was doing (my mama didn't raise no fool), and we weren't near the courtroom. Maybe it's a coincidence, and they were referring to a different incident. Eek. ;-) I have to say, regardless, the judge is doing a great job of running the courtroom. He's firm and fair without overdoing it as I've seen happen in other cases.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2009-02-12T00:23:43-06:00

ID

143513

Comment

To be fair, chauffeur, Reeves has a tough challenge, considering that there is very little that could possibly justify what Melton allegedly did (and this isn't a kangaroo court that requires "evil intent," and that actually allows pertinent evidence in, as clarkkent points out). I assume the best Reeves can hope for is one of the jurors to hold out and say that he was clearly there fighting the thugs, and anything goes for that. Thus, all the efforts to get any mention of drugs before the juror even when followed by a sustained objection. It is hard to believe what urgent drug raid required 16 ounces of scotch and a busload of teenagers.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2009-02-12T00:33:10-06:00

ID

143516

Comment

It's good to hear that the Clarion-Ledger's star "investigative reporter" is so chummy with Danks. Danks was once tapped as Melton's "open records" czar until the JFP and others pointed out that the appointment was both ridiculous and illegal. And Joyner has his little open records blog. So it only makes sense that the two of them should be buds. I wouldn't have touched Danks because he might have slapped me in the face with a subpoena. ;) As for the camera incident, I really think the judicial system goes too far with these rules. I understand that they want to protect the privacy of jurors while the proceedings are underway, but give me a break.

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2009-02-12T09:14:10-06:00

ID

143517

Comment

As for what Danks knew, it may have been that a) the case would be much more difficult to win this time around, and b) Melton is broke. You don't see Merrida Coxwell up there this time either, and he was at least as important to Melton's acquittal as Danks was the last time. As for Reeves, it does sound as if he is sputtering. I assume that Teeuwissen's advice to Melton was not covered by attorney-client privilege because the client in question is the city, not Melton. Maybe Reeves has been listening to Sarah O'Reilly-Evans, who has held that her client is the executive administration, rather than the city itself. Or maybe he's been listening to Karl Rove, who believes that "executive privilege" exempts him from ever showing up to testify before Congress on any matter whatsoever. But I digress.

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2009-02-12T09:20:33-06:00

ID

143519

Comment

The open-records mess, Brian, brings up why I haven't been a big fan of Joyner's. He asked to interview me about why we wrote a letter in that case. I told him I'd only do it if he included my full point and not quote me out of context. Alas, he quoted me out of context. (Or, his editor edited it that way, but his byline was still on it.) At least he did the interview by phone. Many Ledger folks do interviews in *e-mail* — which aren't real interviews, considering that there is no give-and-take and anyone can answer the e-mail for the person being supposedly "interviewed." That's not any better than bloggers who write "features" without ever talking to anyone. And the Ledger should be better than that. Re the camera incident, Joyner reported today that it was MPB who tried to sneak the camera into the courtroom, so my fashion pic at the entrance didn't seem to draw the judge's ire. I do wonder what the whole story is; it seems unlikely that a radio reporter would try to sneak a camera into the courtroom. I wonder if it was inadvertent. Regardless, I understand the judge speaking up about it. That's his job -- to protect the integrity of the jury, for one major thing. But I hope it's not mischaracterized by other media or witnesses for whomever did it if it was an honest mistake.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2009-02-12T10:09:53-06:00

ID

143650

Comment

I also thought it was irresponsible for Kenny Stokes to be given so much air time talking about crack houses in Jackson and how he would "bull doze" all of them if he got the chance. When asked, why haven't you done that, he said, "Because I'm not the Mayor." In other words, he was giving a stamp of approval and a shout out to the court to melton for his act of destroying the Ridge Way property. Where is the integrity of some of the media. Could there be so many people in this community who are satisfied with destroying one segment of the community? If there continues to be this broken link in the community chain, the whole City will eventually crumble. If this entry is confusing, I'm relating to last evening TV news reports. I saw it as a vicarious method of support for melton. Has anyone heard about the testimony of Charles Evers and Frank Bluntson? They are suppose to be character witnesses for melton today. How could this happen when Charles Evers said on one of his shows, "Frank, I know what you are doing with those little boys" and if that was not good enough, Charles told melton to go down to City Hall and resign. He said that melton was destroying the City and that he should work for DHS if he thinks he can help somebody. Charles Evers frequestly said that melton was an embarrassment to this City and its citizens. What has happened to change his mind? I know that Evers frequently says "I love GOD 1st, MONEY 2nd and Women, 3rd". Frank Bluntson's testimony could only be a joke at best. He is operating off of tarnished character; yet, he is speaking of melton's positive character: I DON'T THINK SO!

Author

justjess

Date

2009-02-17T12:19:30-06:00