Friday, July 31, 2009

Kidnap victim sues Robbie Bell

The kidnap victim in the Heather Spencer murder case filed a lawsuit in Hinds County Circuit Court last week against Robbie Bell, the mother of George Bell, III. Copy of lawsuit. She is suing Ms. Bell on the following counts: Negligence and Gross Negligence, Negligent infliction of emotional distress, Premises Liability, and Punitive Damages.

The plaintiff seeks "compensatory damages to make her whole. These damages include an amount to be awarded within the discretion of the jury at a trial of this case, to cover any and all injuries or damages the Plaintiff has suffered, including, but not limited to, any and all medical expenses including future medical expenses associated with the incident described herein, pain and suffering, court costs and attorneys' fees. Additionally, Plaintiff seeks an award of punitive damages in an appropriate amount to punish the Defendant and deter others from committing acts which are grossly negligent and in wanton and reckless disregard for the safety of individuals such as the Plaintiff, and should be assessed with punitive damages in an amount to punish defendants and deter similar conduct by others in the future. Plaintiff seeks any and all additional damages appropriate under the law and deemed by the Court to be just and proper. Plaintiff also seeks both pre-judgment and post-judgment interest."

The lawsuit claims Ms. Bell bore responsibility for the gruesome events of September 10 and 11, 2007. It lays the blame at Ms. Bell's feet, arguing she helped him avoid prosecution for the June 2007 beating of Ms. Spencer as she was instrumental in getting him admitted to a drug rehab facility out of state (and away from JPD jurisdiction by inference). It accuses Ms. Bell of pressuring Ms. Spencer to drop the charges she had filed against her son even though she knew of his "propensity for violence."

One question that has never been asked is why didn't the District Attorney's office prosecute Ms. Bell for helping George avoid prosecution for the June assault. She undoubtedly knew where he was. It is doubtful he found the facility all by himself and given his money troubles at the time, its also doubtful he paid for it. Ms. Bell knew there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest and no judge had dismissed the charges against her son.

The lawsuit also claims Ms. Bell breached her duty to the victim as she "took no action to call the authorities or to otherwise report her son's actions." The crux of the whole case will come down to two issues: what actions did Ms. Bell take to help her son avoid prosecution for the June beating of Ms. Spencer, and why she didn't call the police when given ample opportunity to do so on the morning of September 11, 2007. Indeed, Ms. Bell called James Bell she and George were leaving because they feared he would call the police (not to mention she refused to leave with him and the victim when given the opportunity to do so).

One of the main reasons this case has generated so much controversy is that no trial was ever held and thus the public was denied its right to know what happened. Hopefully this case will go to trial and finally the public will learn the truth about what took place when George Bell, III went on his rampage on that awful night.

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

20. George Bell returned to Robbie Bell's house with [redacted Plantiff name]. The Plaintiff was
detained at the Bell residence until George Bell's uncle, James Bell, was able to convince George Bell to let Plaintiff leave with him.


Now that is interesting and conflicts with James Bell's statement.

Anonymous said...

Page 4 you need to redact name.

Kingfish said...

great. No way I can do it right now. WLBT did report her name this week and its a public record. Sorry.

Anonymous said...

page 5 too...total of 4 redactions I could see...

The Great White Hype said...

Hey Fish, great job this week. How come the liberal websites are ignoring this? Isn't domestic violence one of their favorite causes?

Kingfish said...

I have no idea. Been to busy working on this to worry about it although it has bothered me WAPT, WJTV, and the CL have ignored this.

Anonymous said...

Libs ignoring because there isn't a racial angle......

Anonymous said...

why make it a conservative/liberal thing? that is silly. this is a story that needs review, everyone except the bells would agree.

Anonymous said...

None of the other media outlets want to give a blogger any credit. You can bet your last dollar that had KF not watermarked those documents that some of them, especially the nano-alt, would have ripped him off by now.

Thank goodness WLBT and their news team has the vision and maturity without the institutional egos to understand that they can advance the ball in the community by working with a blogger doing quality work and research like KF. They rightly see him as a beneficial adjunct to their efforts, not a competitor of which to be stupidly territorial.

Some may not agree with everything he writes but Jackson Jambalaya is the best blog in Jackson, bar none.

Anonymous said...

10:49 - This blog does seem to be the only source of reliable information about what's important in Jackson. I'm glad I found it. The other media outlets seem to be incapable of being ashamed of their poor performance at keeping people informed.

Kingfish said...

That is why I watermarked it. I wasn't worried about that paper doing it but the CL or some others. Don't think Simmons wouldn't have done it and claimed it as a new story. I've already gotten a taste of his ethics, or lack of I should say.

Anonymous said...

Go Fish ! ! !

Anonymous said...

Kingfish, you really do deserve recognition for your digging up legal docs and offering insightful and thoughtful opinions on the issues.

very big kudo to you.

stilettoGOP said...

I have been wondering the same thing about why this is so ignored. KF and WLBT- rock on.

Also, I wasn't going to start this, but y'all brought it up (in a way) above. Race. Alright, IN ALL HONESTY, do you think that roles reversed, and this same exact story happened to a black girl in south or west jackson, that we would all be following the every last detail and be as outraged as we all are? Just being honest. Gut check time.
I'll admit it. I probably wouldn't have paid it this much attention, guitly. Not proud of that either. But it's true. I'm afraid "some" of the entrancement is that this murder and Robbie's disrespect for a human life happened to a beautiful white girl. Nonetheless, what happened is a complete and utter outrage. White or black.

But yeah, WAKE UP local media. Why you hidin' dammit.

Anonymous said...

Actually, some of us wouldn't care if the victim were polka dotted, what this woman did/didn't do and so far has got away with it, is enough to cause outrage.

Some of us still have our souls.

For example this section of the reports/statements has to do with Robbie Bell's car after the standoff, after they left the house to avoid the police that Jr. thought James Bell would be calling:

"I responded from the crime scene office and arrived at 1511 hrs. I was instructed by Sergeant Childress to recover the items on top of the listed vehicle. The items were photographed then recovered at their noted times. The listed vehicle was released to an unknown person that was on scene. ALL BLOODY ITEMS WERE HUNG TO DRY PRIOR TO PACKAGING."

What had they put in this car to carry off with them? Prior to their leaving the house that morning, supposedly her car had been there around 14 hours or so without moving.

stilettoGOP said...

I'm thinking of changing my name to stilettoMISUNDERSTOOD.

Anonymous said...

lol stillettoMISUNDERSTOOD

Kingfish said...

Give Monica Hernandez credit. She did that whole story herself. No teleprompter feeding the story to her. She read ALL of the documents, ran down interviews, called people, and put the story together. She read this stuff on her own time. Some reporters here in town would've said "oh, thats on my time and I'm not getting paid for it, no thanks." She did an outstanding job with it. Not bad for 23 years old.

stilettoGOP said...

Funny but true 12:58, I'm the epitome of misunderstood.

I guess my point was, when was the last time we all sat around discussing in such depth the case of the black JSU student who was beaten and killed by her boyfriend? I understand Robbie 'camera ready' Bell added a unique RAGE factor to this one, don't get me wrong! Guess was just pointing out all victims should never leave our thoughts and focus, even though some of the cases are still talked about more than others. NOT taking a thing away from Heather's case (before I'm misunderstood)

Yes Monica did an excellent job. You're absolutely right.

Anonymous said...

Kingfish, Monica did an awesome job. Please see to it that she knows we appreciate the job she did with this story and hope to see much of her in the future.

StilettoGOP: You are right, thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.

Let me just say this, most of the African American women that I know of that have sons, if one of them had tried to do something like that, I think the man would have been in the worst shape out of that.

I have a great respect for these ladies because they don't play around when it comes down to it.

Anonymous said...

stilettoGOP

I really think this has to do with the prominence of the family. George Bell Carpets is
pretty well known.

Anonymous said...

I guess my point was, when was the last time we all sat around discussing in such depth the case of the black JSU student who was beaten and killed by her boyfriend?

Count on it. If another blogger in Jackson was writing about and investigating your hypothetical case where the same injustices had taken place I'd be reading, commenting and as outraged. It isn't about race but rather about an insanely dysfunctional and corrupt justice system in this state. It has to stop.

Hookah said...

You know if we would have thought we could have all met up and went to the Neshoba County Fair and heckled Jim Hood's speech--yelling Heather Spencer's name, holding up signs or having a prayer/candlelight vigil.

We should congregate on this matter--seems we're all passionate enough about it and it would be nice to meet some JJ fans all in one place for the cause of justice.

Anonymous said...

I must admit I do enjoy the thoughtful conversation that takes place here and I credit KF with taking on issues that are important on many different levels.

I'm taking off the rose colored glasses of judgment about anything (color, money, sex, etc.) The outrage over this particular case stems from a clear example of the corruption in the power elite in MS. Look at the characters involved. Look at what is going on around them. How many more will go to jail? And yet, Ms. Bell still gets a pass. I believe that the outrage is over the continued feeling, in this state, its not what you do, its who you know. You are either a part of the club or not.

That said, I believe it is important when the elite are not subject to the same system of judgment and punishment as those who pay for the very system that allows them to possess their power and influence, citizens must voice their complaints. The fact they use it to further cozy up together is egregious and does not serve the public interest, it serves the interest of few.

Looking at the State on this issue, MS has a long way to go. I pray that those in positions of leadership can muster up the courage and integrity and do what is right. I pray that they do not fear reprisal for standing up against the majority headwinds and serve the public in their appointed capacity with honor.

On the subject of the media outlets in MS, only WLBT has the courage to step out and report with integrity. The CL has consistently reported reluctantly, so reluctantly, it appears they fear reprisal. Is the club that Tyrannical or as mentioned before somewhere here, are they a PR firm? Other outlets just seem to chug along, probably b/c of loss of employees and there just aren't enough folks to do the work. I think those who seek to avoid criticism kinda' like that.

stilettoGOP said...

2:25, I wasn't being hypothetical.. Her name was Latisha Norman. Like I said, admittedly there was no 'Robbie' involved that just stood by and watched this poor girl die, but was a case of kidnap and murder by her boyfriend.

Michael- you are SOOO right with your idea. I would have been there to heckle Hood in a heartbeat in honor of Heather. (wow was a lot of h's ;) )

Anonymous said...

Stiletto, you could have gotten at least two more "h"s in there if you had said,"... and Jim Hood can go to hell.

Kingfish said...

In the Norman case there aren't the ties to Ed Peters, Melton, and his gang this case has plus so many people knew the people involved. I knew two of them and saw the third, just never met her.

The Great White Hype said...

Hey Fish, made my little contribution. Your posse here needs to start chipping in some jack if they love you so much. You people get the clarion-ledger for free and look what you get?

stilettoGOP said...

Okie dokie everybody. Can we just all agree that NO MATTER the case we hate guys who act like pussies and kill their girlfriends. We can? Cool.

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2oOVsF1T60&feature=fvw

Anonymous said...

KF: What was the point in redacting the plaintiff's name when she had already published it in the lawsuit? Was the suit filed under seal?

Anonymous said...

I am ashamed of myself for not following this case like I should have. It wasn't a whole on it in the paper or on the news about the details. Only when I started reading this blog have I gotten the true facts, and I have to say I am royally p...... with Robbie Bell and her getting away with her part in this terrible crime. Now, what's the deal? Is Robbie divorced from her sorry son's Dad, George Bell? Didn't I read Heather's Mother settled with her without going to trial? For how much? Does Robbie Bell have any serious money? I'm just curious, because I sure hope this goes to trial, and for some reason I think it is. Heather's Mother might not could have stood a trial and reliving her daughter's death, but I bet this young lady can. The public needs to hear all the facts about what Robbie Bell. She should be locked up with her sorry son.

Kingfish said...

So what is the point of the video?

stilettoGOP said...

Apology.

Old post and not like it matters, but since I have just reread something I wrote, guess I wanted to say sorry if it was taken the wrong way (when I pointed out white cases get more attn than black). The way I should have said it might have been something like "name famous black murder or kidnapping cases", then name white, Natalie Holloway, Elizabeth Smart, (both attractive and from affluent families) and many more can instantly pop in your head. I'm sure there have been missing and murdered black girls before, where was the constant media coverage then?-- is what I meant. Could have gone about my point differently. If anything was trying to point out that it was a shame. And came out racist. sorry.

Hugs,
Stiletto

Also I apologize for my potty mouth here and there if it offends. Bonne journee, y'all.



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Trollfest '07 was such a success that Jackson Jambalaya will once again host Trollfest '09. Catch this great event which will leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Othor Cain and his band, The Black Power Structure headline the night while Sonjay Poontang returns for an encore performance. Former Frank Melton bodyguard Marcus Wright makes his premier appearance at Trollfest singing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Kamikaze will sing his new hit, “How I sold out to da Man.” Robbie Bell again performs: “Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Bells” and “Any friend of Ed Peters is a friend of mine”. After the show, Ms. Bell will autograph copies of her mug shot photos. In a salute to “Dancing with the Stars”, Ms. Bell and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith will dance the Wango Tango.

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In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The “Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless” booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word “jackass” was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up.


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If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

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