Jackson Jambalaya

Hinds County Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas will ask suspended attorney Michael J. Brown and funeral home owner Linus Schakelford why he should not imprison them when over $1 million disappeared from the guardianship of De Mon McClinton. Judge Thomas also appointed attorney Paul Rogers as Special Master to investigate the case.

Damon McClinton inherited $3 million when his mother, Rebecca Henry, died in 2000. Ms. Henry was the daughter of Mississippi civil rights legend Aaron Henry. Damon McClinton's father, Thomas, hired attorney Mike Brown to establish a guardianship for young McClinton. Then-Chancellor Stuart Robinson established a guardianship and ordered Mr. Brown to deposit the money in a bank account and decreed the money could not be withdrawn without court approval.

Judge Thomas ruled at a February hearing Mr. Brown never deposited the money in an account nor was one ever established. Judge Thomas threw Mr. Brown in jail after he could not account for the money. The attorney also claimed the file (he checked it out in 2006) and bank statements were destroyed when a water pipe burst in his office. Judge Thomas set bond at $100,000 at a later hearing. Mr. Brown made bail and is free.

Judge Thomas said in his findings Mike Brown "loaned" over $500,000 to Linus Shackelford out of Damon McClinton's estate. Mr. Shackelford owns Lakeland Garden Place cemetery on Lakeland Drive. Judge Thomas gave Mr. Shackelford 40 days to return the money to the estate or face jail at a hearing scheduled on March 20. The March 2 order states if the monies and interest are not returned, Mr. Shackelford "will have to show cause" why the Chancellor should not order his incarceration.

Mr. Rogers's report (posted below) states Mike Brown, Linus Shackelford, and Thomas McClinton spent young McClinton's money without the court's approval. Apparently the father didn't mind spending some of his son's money. He bought rental houses that were not exactly in the best parts of town on streets such as Waycaster and Carnation. The report says $1.2 million was placed into an account held by Thomas McClinton at Regions bank in 2002 and another $750,000 to an Amsouth/Regions investment account in 2003 held by Thomas as well. The report says Thomas "failed to account for any of the funds disbursed to him as Guardian" and was "never relieved of the obligation to do so".

The report states Michael J. Brown "breached" all duties by not making sure all funds were placed into restricted accounts for De Mon McClinton. Mr. Rogers states there was no way the attorney could justify his 2001 fee of $398,000. He states that at $150 per hour, it would take 1,920 hours and a fee of $110,000 for an "opinion letter" to reach that amount. The Special Master said the opinion letter was "unnecessary." It should also be pointed out the report states Trustmark was given proof of the guardianship but no copy of the order. Thus the question is whether Trustmark ever had notice this was an account with court-imposed restrictions.

Judge Thomas will accept the report today. Judge Thomas said last month Linus Shackelford and Michael J. Brown could either produce the money today or "explain" they he should not hold them in contempt of court.