Jackson Jambalaya

I'm all for him asking the questions and staying on this guy's case, but he lost me the second he started whining like a bitch about being assaulted.

Looked like assault to me. The cop was incredibly patient and polite.

A dude with a cell phone is not the media. Mayor should never have acknowledged the dude. They were made for each other.

Wonder if ol Johnny Boy can convince Uncle Bennie to ride in to the rescue by alleging racism yet again?

Like the Clinton s ...Mayor thinks he's ABOVE THE LAW.

If the rolls were reversed, the reporter would have been arrested. You can't go snatch an electronic device from someone like that. It is assault, and the Mayor acted terribly. He definitely has something to hide. Everyone around him is starting to get indicted.

People in those positions should be held to the highest standard.

Whether he was media or not is irrelevant. The general public has a right, same as media, to approach a public figure and ask questions...and to video the event. Media has no special privilege not held by any member of the public. Public figure, public sidewalk, anybody has a right to ask questions and video it.

He wasn't whining. He was wise to establish for the record that he had been assaulted by the public official. The mayor's action meets the definition of assault. He was also wise to ask the cop, on video, if he had witnessed it, which he acknowledged.

A polite "No comment" was the mayor's appropriate response. Things are stinking in Hattiesburg even more than they are in Jackson.

And, on the other hand, technically this was an assault by the mayor, albeit a very minor one. $100 fine and another demerit to Dupree.

What Garmon didn't seem to understand is that this was in Hattiesburg. Nothing about the law down there applies to Johnny and his gang.

Assault? Not if the assaulter is Dupree. Law is different for him, and when it is inconvenient, Bennie will try to ride in and claim that the Obama Justice Department, Obama FBI, and Obama appointed US Attorney are practicing racism by questioning anything that Dupree and his mafioso gang is involved in.

Garmon is far from "media" or "press". But as noted above, there is no special law for the media no matter who is defining it. If it was the reverse circumstances here in Judge Sutton's court Hinds County Justice Court (white guy assaulting black guy), it would few hundred dollar fine AND require attendance at his buddies anger management course.

In Hattiesburg municipal court - Tom might be in trouble.

The law has no definition of 'very minor assault'. This was an assault by a public official, regardless of the physical or property damages. A judgment against the mayor will be well worth the effort. Just as the judgment against this same mayor for appointing people and leaving them in the position forever. He's a con artist and a scammer. Ought to be barred from public service.

it's not assault. The officer was extremely professional.

5:22, it shouldn't be considered assault, but in many justice courts of this state, if you only touch the other person without their consent and they respond with 'assault', your goose is cooked. When you get into the racially charged courtrooms, and there are public officials involved, you don't have a chance.

Law is outdated - and should be fixed. But where does one start..

Let me know when the "press" get licensed. Until then, everyone is the press and in today's technological world any who can "publish" is the media.

Touching a person's phone is not assault. Period. The mayor shouldn't have taken the bait, but this HP guy is a pansy.

Dupree walked away.. turned around...came back and assaulted the gentleman. Open and closed. Dupree returned after he walked away and was,"in the clear".

It amazes me how much Dupree gets by with. He has been so deep in corruption for years, and still he sits. WDAM, our local TV station lets him by by never truly addressing Dupree and his cronies misdeeds. WDAM didnt even address the question that the reporter,,,and he is a reporter, was asking about Eyewwash,,eyewash...eyewash..thats WDAM. Tonight on WDAM, Dupree apologized for getting too riled up. They didnt have the guts to ask the real questions.

Hattiesburg is becoming just like Jackson.

he assaulted meeee!!!! I'm gonna tell my daddy on him!!

So how exactly do those of you who think this is assault define the crime of assault? I'll wait while y'all google it.

9:44. Don't have to Google it. Have had charges filed against me for less. Paid for a good legal education when defending it in JCJ and County Court.

Don't necessarily agree that it meets all the parts of the law, but recognizing how these oftentimes get handled in our lower 'courts' gets to the actual definition.

That website is a scam and run by a crazy person.

Typical thug behavior from a typical thug.

Section 97-3-7 of the MS Code:

(1) A person is guilty of simple assault if he (a) attempts to cause or purposely, knowingly or recklessly causes bodily injury to another; or (b) negligently causes bodily injury to another with a deadly weapon or other means likely to produce death or serious bodily harm; or (c) attempts by physical menace to put another in fear of imminent serious bodily harm; and, upon conviction, he shall be punished by a fine of not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six (6) months, or both.

He is media/press on all accounts. Because he is one man with NUMEROUS connections does not mean he can't be press. Everything starts small. Even better he does all this for free. Simple fact is there is a TON of shady stuff going on in the community, and has been for awhile now... Glad to see someone put all the pieces together for the community. It take bravery and guts to do this. In a small southern town, strange things happen to people...he is not afraid. GO PATRIOT!!! www.hattiesburgpatriot.com

The Hattiesburgpatriot.com site is a media site. Read it. It has documents backing everything up. This guy and his crew are doing so much more than local media.

More people follow it than the local paper. The TV guys won't report on the corruption. Without this site, our community would be clueless to the criminal conduct. Hopefully it will make a difference come election time.

This guy isn't crazy. He has guts and is putting the pieces together.

You people who claim this is not assault are merely ignorant. Read the definition above. The mayor approached the man in an angry fashion, shoved his camera back toward him and threatened and menaced the man. Sure it's assault. It's also assault if I holler across the street at you, "I am going to whip your ass the next time I see you!" No requirement that one person touch or harm another.

I don't know who the man with the camera is but who he is and his occupation, if any, is irrelevant. It's also irrelevant whether or not he is media. He could also be a vagrant with a 54 IQ. Still assault.

Whether the cop was patient and professional has nothing to do with a charge of assault. The cop was also scared shitless and was worried about what his precinct commander was going to say about an incident involving his holiness.

Remember the case of Justin Frazier? The former Hattiesburg Police Officer, who was suspended and got a written reprimand. Frazier sounded his air horn, to get the attention of a driver that was blocking traffic, while having another conversation with another motorist. Just so happens, that motorist was good ole Dr. Mayor Dupree. Dupree then ran to former Chief Bolton and complained about Frazier. Bolton then ORDERED Frazier to apologize to the Dr. Mayor. Frazier refused and was suspended and got a written reprimand. Dr. Mayor is a punk..

http://www.wlox.com/story/24511942/hattiesburg-detective-wants-record-cleared

Many of you, including the man screaming "assault" in the video, are confusing the common law definition of battery with the statutory definition of assault. And that's to be expected for two reasons. First, TV shows, news programs, and movies don't get this right. Ever. Second, each state has a different way of defining and penalizing "assault" and "battery." So it is easy to get things confused in this area of the law.

In Mississippi, assault requires bodily injury, the attempt to cause bodily injury, or a credible threat of imminent (meaning about to happen right that very second), serious bodily harm. "Serious bodily harm" has been defined by our courts as mortal wounds, broken bones, injuries that cause permanent impairment or disfigurement, etc. A perfect example of simple assault involving the credible threat of imminent serious bodily harm is the pointing of a gun at someone.

Battery, on the other hand, is an offensive touching, such as pushing someone out of your way, jabbing a finger in someone's chest, thumping their ear, spitting in their face, grabbing their camera, etc. This was a battery, not an assault. Battery is not a crime in Mississippi. It's an intentional tort.

personally, after over 30 years in the Mississippi criminal justice system, I think this is not statutory simple assault; however, it is permissible to charge common law crimes in Mississippi courts. Any "offensive touching" is common law assault. Classic case taught in law school: two people in a verbal argument, one holding a plate of food in his hands. the defendant slapped the plate out of the hands of the victim and was found guilty of common law assault without ever having touched the victim's body, only the plate. The mayor obviously committed a minor criminal offense against this citizen/reporter/blogger/whatever he is doesn't matter.

This site is overrun by people who "know the law" that have no clue. Words alone cannot constitute assault. Ever. There must be accompanying physical menace that puts a person in fear of IMMINENT SERIOUS BODILY HARM. Those words have meaning. And touching a phone without causing injury to a person isn't assault. Ever. How do I know? I've tried dozens of assault cases. And read nearly every case on the subject in Mississippi case law. I'm sure all of those on here who are so knowledgeable have done that too.

Hattiesburg Residents: Please explain the question about eyewash and its answer. Thanks.

The mayor should be arrested and taken to trial. I don't care if the guy is media or not. That has no legal bearing.

I predict the mayor will be arrested if charges are pressed and a trial will be had.

To "Ignorance Rampant" on August 27 at 3:50 AM, you said: It's also assault if I holler across the street at you, "I am going to whip your ass the next time I see you!"

The relevant part of the statute says "attempts by physical menace to put another in fear of imminent serious bodily harm." Note the word imminent. It means "about to happen" or "immediate". When someone says "next time", that is NOT imminent.

7:40, I beg to differ. Section 99-1-3 of the MS Code reads: "Every offense not provided for by the statutes of this state shall be indictable as heretofore at common law." The key there is "not provided for by the statutes of this state...."

97-3-7 defines the offense of assault (in many and varied ways). Because the Legislature has decided to speak on the crime of assault, the crime of assault is not indictable at common law. Once the Legislature "enter(s) the field and prescribe(s) the elements of the criminal offense," 99-1-3 applies and prohibits what you suggest.

Under the laws of the State of Mississippi, there is no crime in that video.

You do not even have to touch the other person to be charged with assault. There is such a thing as verbal assault. Had a friend in Jackson who found out what verbal assault was.

Bennie Thompson will yell conspiracy and ask the DOJ to look into it. "Bennie, this is not your District". Stop fooling Dupree, Bolton and Fairly, you care nothing about them. If you did, you would donate to their defense. These Gentlemen will have their day in court! If they did nothing, they will be exonerated by a court of law.
We elected a US Congerssman to serve us, his name is Steven Palazzo, not you Bennie, STAY OUT OF OUR DISTRICT!!! The Secound District needs you!!!

I LOVE YOU BENNIE, STAY IN YOUR LANE!!!!!

8:18; I disagree with your analysis. If the poster at "Ignorance Rampant" told his neighbor he was going back into the house and would whip his ass the next time he sees him, I suspect the offended neighbor would conclude that an ass whipping is imminent. Imminent, absent a better definition, means 'going to happen right soon with a pretty damned reasonable expectation of certainty'.

Let an attorney, any attorney, come up to me and start jabbing his finger in my chest and see if he's not convicted of simple assault.

No wonder there are so many lawyers out there making $32,500 per year closing on home sales.

im·mi·nent
ˈimənənt/Submit
adjective

synonyms: impending, coming, forthcoming, on the way, in the offing, in the pipeline, on the horizon, in the air, just around the corner, coming down the pike, expected, anticipated, brewing, looming, threatening, menacing; informal- in the cards.

Kudos to the police officer. He handled that better than I expected he would. They will demote him soon.

And the lady saying her ex-husband will sue? Stay professional.

That wasn't assault. However, give the nut a gold star for the day for pissing off the thug mayor.

So the cop WITNESSED Dupree commit a crime and didn't arrest him? While I can appriciate the cop trying not to let this situation out of hand, he sure didn't do his job as he let the criminal simply walk away.

Love these arguments.....see why we have so many lawyers? For situations just like this!

We can all argue over nothing for no real gain....and do it anonymously.

And the answer is...technically this is text book assault.....it's almost a fact pattern from a law school exam.

Will it be pursued?

Of course not...not criminally.

Now....what about the civil side?

And...start arguing!

No harm no foul. I agree, these two were made for each other. Can you imagine sitting in front of a jury of your peers crying that a guy grabbed your camera? Where's the damage?

Lifelong Hattiesburger here. Patriot is nutty but his site is usually pretty accurate.

Dupree's gonna get another challenge next year for mayor. Probably Dave Ware again or Barker. Hattiesburg is a long way from being Jackson because of USM and FGH/Hburg Clinic.

There is nothing nutty about a person who wants to expose the criminals in local government. It's unusual because mainstream media doesn't do their jobs.

If you look at the website the reporting is spot on accurate and supported by clear, convincing facts.

A Superintendent of a school district just pleaded guilty to assault for firing a gun in the air and hollering at another individual.

In what reality is it lawful to walk up to someone, get in their face, and attempt to take their property by force?

Becoming part of a story that you are covering is more along the likes of this blog, which isn't the news, it is jackassery. At least you make no bones about it KF.

Interesting how many registered voters have the same name and birthday in Hinds county and Forrest county. Wonder if anyone will buy the voter rolls and take a look?

Sadly, some of the posters here list 'adjunct professor' on their resume.

What a disgrace! Reminds me of Kirk Fordice threatening to whoop a reporter's ass. Look how he left and came back and left and came back to assault this person. And in Mississippi that is most certainly assault. You don't even have to touch someone. Dupree looks like he got caught in a lie and didn't know what to do. Isn't his best friend indicted for allegedly defrauding HUD through the City's federal programs department to pay the mortgage at the Mayor's crony?