Dr. Arnold Smith asked a Hinds County Circuit Court to remove Attorney General Jim Hood in a complaint for Quo Warranto filed yesterday. Dr. Smith argues that the Mississippi Constitution places the Attorney General under the judicial branch and thus Mr. Hood can not serve in the executive branch of state government.
Dr. Smith currently resides at Whitfield. He was indicted for capital murder in for allegedly participating in a murder for hire plot to kill Greenwood attorney and power broker Lee Abraham in April 2012. Two armed men showed up at Mr. Abraham's office on a Saturday night but were met by two investigators from the Attorney General's office who just happened to be armed as well. A shootout took place. One would-be assassin was killed and the other was taken into custody. Special Circuit Judge Breland Hilburn dismissed the capital murder charge in 2013. Dr. Smith is represented by attorney William Bell. The case was assigned to Judge Winston Kidd.
Dr. Smith first cites the Mississippi Constitution in support of his claim:
SECTION 173. There shall be an attorney-general elected at the same time and in the same manner as the governor is elected, whose term of office shall be four years and whose compensation shall be fixed by law. The qualifications for the attorney-general shall be the same as herein prescribed for judges of the circuit and chancery courts.
The drafters of the constitution aligned the qualifications of the Attorney General with the qualifications "as herein prescribed for judges of the circuit and chancery courts." This alignment of qualifications with other members of the judicial branch clearly shows the intent of the drafters that the Attorney General is part of the judicial branch of government.It is also argued that Article V "does not establish the Attorney General as an officer of the executive branch of government." The complaint states that Mr. Hood has to vacate his office if he performs any duties that are considered to be a part of the executive branch. He cites Article I, Section 2 in support:
No person or collection of persons, being one or belonging to one of these departments, shall exercise any power properly belonging to either of the others. The acceptance of an office in either of the said departments shall, of itself, and at once, vacate any and all offices held by the person so accepting in either of the other departments.Remember that arrest of the Hinds County District Attorney last week? Dr. Smith attempts to use it to his advantage. He charges:
Agents and employees of Defendant Hood represent themselves as law enforcement officers and investigators, including but not limited to Attorney General Investigators Tony Green, Larry Ware, Jerry Spell, Charles Rubisoff, Jr., and Leland McDivitt. A true and correct copy of Leland McDivitt 's June 22, 2016 void "Affidavit" against Robert Shuler Smith is attached as Exhibit "A" (showing that Leland McDivitt purports to be a "criminal investigator with the office of the Mississippi Attorney General" who also arrested the District Attorney last week.
He argues the arrest warrant was "null and void" under the separation of powers doctrine since the Attorney General is a member of the judicial branch of government. The only remedy is for Mr. Hood to vacate his office since he illegally participated in the executive branch of government. Dr. Smith also asks the court to bar Mr. Hood and any of his employees from "performing any duties" as an executive branch officer.
Stay tuned. This will provide some legal porn for the attorneys who read this website.
25 comments:
Assigned to Judge Kidd. Buckle up.
This should be good.
It is very easy to see why Ms. is in the shape it is. A man in Whitfield knows more about the law than our attorney general.
I love how attorney will take every sentence of the law a covert the meaning to suit their needed. IOW (In other words)William Bell is combing through every letter of the law to find a loophole for his client Arnold Smith. I'm the extensive law library at Whitfield is helpful to Dr. Arnold Smith. Rave on ole great prefect.
At what point does William Bell get charged with grand theft or abusing a vulnerable adult by continuing to take Smith's money for such ridiculous shit? More importantly, when is the bar and/or the MS Supreme Court going to chide him for his "vexatious litigation" tactics?
Bell's got a set of balls, I'll say that.
The caption in the complaint made me chuckle: "Jim Hood, who purports to be acting as attorney general."
The only people more deranged than Dr. Smith are those on here who actually believe he has any remote knowledge of this pleading, much less had involvement in it. The closest Dr. Smith gets to reality is glancing out the third floor window and catching a glimpse of a yellow butterfly....being chased by a man with a net.
Mr. Bell did his job. He got him off on a cap murder charge when everyone was so sure he'd be convicted. Everything else is gravy.
A criminal at Whitfield files a tin-foil hat motion that sounds like a tax protester claiming the 16th amendment was never ratified. Why is this worthy of a post?
Exactly, Kingfish.
Someone alluded to the attorney screwing the (vulnerable) client. Good pernt. So, assuming the attorney has a legal right to continue claiming to represent the doctor, is the attorney at total liberty to come up with whatever wacky notions he chooses and file them in court papers, and charge the client, and tap the client's account, which one assumes the lawyer controls?
How can an attorney claim such a relationship with a man currently boarding at the State Mental Asylum?
How much did Tater pay him to do this.
Funny thing though - when I read Judge Weill's order prohibiting RSS from prosecuting cases, I wondered whether there might be a separation-of-powers issue. I note the AG's brief specifically cites caselaw holding that D.A.'s (and the A.G.) are members of the executive branch. That's bad for the crazy doctor but perhaps good for the crazy prosecutor.
One more thing worth remembering. Before Mike Moore became Attorney General, the duties of the office were pretty boring - basically handling appeals from criminal convictions and representing state agencies. Moore was way too high- strung to be OK with that, so in short order he convinced the Legislature to drastically expand the powers of the office with things like statewide grand juries for drug cases and elderly abuse prosecution. Under Moore the AG became much more like a DA on steroids. I don't remember anyone ever questioning the constitutionality of all that, but it's not like the AG has had all of these powers since time immemorial.
Perfect kind of client for a lawyer in today's economy. One that has plenty of assets, no place to spend his money (I'm told the Whitfield commissary has a limited supply of items) and unable to defend himself from whatever his lawyer chooses to do. Only question is, after a while what can the lawyer do to be able to justify a billing.
Guess this crap is what you get - an outright assault on the Constitution. Of course, even if he were correct in his interpretation, his client would still be guilty, or stuck in the looney bin.
Don't think he could use the defense that the lawyer he hired folks to take out 'needed killin'. Might be true, but doesn't work well in today's appeals court.
What body has jurisdiction over an unscrupulous attorney who is simply diddling around and rifling the assets of his insane 'client'? Who hollers STOP and when?
A set of balls and knowledge of the law. Good going, William Bell.
This was file by Mary Smith, Dr. Smith's spouse and next friend who has power of attorney to do so. She filed on his behalf.
11:29 - Please complete your post. Or, here, let me do it for you:
"This was filed by Dr. Smith's spouse at the behest and suggestion of their attorney of record, William Bell, Esq."
The AG by Mississippi Constitution has all those powers of an AG at common law. Common law in England made the AG the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the Crown. There you go! That's the rational used to begin granting more law enforcement powers to the AG when Mike Moore occupied the office.
Take a real good look around. This aint England.
@12:19 (dajudge): Funny, I just looked at the Mississippi Constitution and Section 173 (which creates the office of the Attorney General and is, indeed, located within Section 6, "Judiciary) doesn't say a word about cloaking him with the "powers of an AG at common law." Besides, if the AG really did have all those powers at common law and was already the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the Crown, then he wouldn't have needed statutory authority to start prosecuting and shooting people.
Look at the Mississippi Constitution and observe all the offices listed first under Section 5 ("Executive"), and then look at those listed under Section 6 ("Judiciary") - which includes both the AG and DA's. I've never really paid attention to the arrangement before, but it's not really that long of a stretch to make the argument Mr. Bell is making.
Paging John Grisham for a new series.
3:20 Read Miss Code Section 7-5-1 grants the Mississippi Attorney General all those power an AG had at common law. This code section is based on interpretation of the Mississippi Constitution
Yeah, but those AG powers don't include law enforcement authority as part of common law. Plus, the legislature can't amend the constitution.
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