The David Archie Saga: Part I, II, III... Never Mind, Lost Count

David Archie, community hell-raiser and attention-hound, oops, I meant local "activist", recently announced he was running for Mayor of Jackson. This is not Mr. Archie's first run for office as he was a candidate for Jackson City Council Ward 1 and for seat on the Madison County Board of Supervisors in recent years. Mr. Archie was last seen protesting at the convenience store where a clerk shot someone who allegedly stole some beer. Mr. Archie was arrested earlier this year in Canton as he marched without a permit and after being explicitly warned by the police he would be arrested if he did so. Such behavior is the norm for Mr. Archie as he has had earlier scrapes with the law even though they received little coverage by the media.

In 2000, Mr. Archie was arrested at the Ameristar Casino in Vicksburg for "trespassing after warning". Mr. Archie was present in the casino in 1999 when another patron ( Seyed Toliat, whom Mr. Archie did not know) was asked to leave after claiming he was dealt the wrong cards (See linked documents at bottom of post). Mr. Toliat refused to leave after being repeatedly asked to do so. Security personnel began to escort him from the premises. You may ask why Mr. Archie was involved in this incident. It seems as though Mr. Archie was present in the casino, saw what was taking place, and decided to stick his nose into the confrontation between the two parties. Ameristar states in its motion Mr. Archie picked up a chair in a threatening manner. Mr. Archie was asked to leave as well and was given notice at that time he was banned from the casino.

Mr. Archie was caught on December 22, 2000 in Ameristar again. Casino personnel recognized Mr. Archie (as stated in the motion, which represents one side of a legal argument) and called the police. Once the police arrived (See officer's statement in incident report), they asked Mr. Archie for ID. He refused to produce any ID and was arrested for trespassing.

The municipal court found Mr. Archie not guilty of the trespass as it said he was not given "written notice" despite the fact the statute (MS Code Sec. 97-17-97) states:
"If any person or persons shall without authority of law go into or upon or remain in or upon any building, premises or land of another...... after having been forbidden to do so, either orally or in writing including any sign hereinafter mentioned, by any owner, or lessee, or custodian, or other authorized person.... such person or persons shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or by confinement in the county jail not exceeding six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment."

Instead of quietly accepting his victory in court (which was at odds with the law), Mr. Archie then stayed true to form and filed a lawsuit against Ameristar Casino, claiming malicious prosecution and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Ameristar eventually settled the case with Mr. Archie. Although I've been told what the amount of the settlement was, I have not been able to confirm it but will instead will say if true, would allow one to purchase a new car. One can only speculate after reading through the witness statements and incident reports that it was cheaper for Ameristar to settle than pay the firm it engaged, Wells, Marble, & Hurst, the fees required to win the case (This case is a great argument for tort reform.)

Such behavior from Mr. Archie seems to fit a pattern as he was previously involved in an incident at the Jackson International Airport (See footnote on page 3) where the Ameristar motion stated:
"It is important to note that this is not the first time that Archie has brought a lawsuit in which he asserts a claim for malicious prosecution. Archie sued the Jackson Airport Authority following his arrest for disturbing the peace, assault on a police officer, and resisting arrest after an altercation at the JIA....The altercation began when a rental car company would not allow Archie to rent a vehicle using another person's credit card. Archie responded by throwing a phone at the rental car company's employee."

Repeated arrests, protests, threats, using objects to intimidate others. Is this something people want to see in a Mayor? Is this "community-organizing" or "activism"? Jackson can do without such "activism" and one can only hope the next time Mr. Archie faces a judge and is convicted, the judge will throw the book (I meant that rhetorically, don't want a frivolous lawsuit claiming I threatened Mr. Archie) at Mr. Archie and impose the maximum sentence available to him at that time. One can debate whether Mr. Archie was guilty or not of said offenses but one thing is almost certain to occur: Mr. Archie will be in some kind of trouble.

Documents (Read them, they are veeery entertaining):
Witness Statements
Police Incident Reports
Ameristar Motion

If links do not work, go to www.googlegroups.com and enter "jackson jambalaya" in the search box.