Hinds County District Attorney Indicted for Conspiracy to Hinder Prosecution
JACKSON— Attorney General Jim Hood announced today that a Hinds County grand jury has indicted Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith on two felony charges, accusing Smith of conspiring with an assistant DA to hinder prosecution of a criminal defendant.
Smith, 45, of Jackson, is charged with two counts of conspiracy to Hinder Prosecution in the First Degree, felony charges punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000 on each count.
Additionally, the grand jury indicted Smith on a misdemeanor count of violating Mississippi Code Section 97-11-3, which states that a DA shall not "consult, advise, counsel or defend" a person charged with a crime. If convicted of that charge, Smith faces removal from office and a fine of up to $500.
"As a former district attorney, I have the utmost respect for the work our district attorneys do every day to make Mississippi a safer place to live. They are my colleagues in the fight against crime," Attorney General Hood said. "So it brings me no pleasure to prosecute one of our own. But a Hinds County grand jury has indicted Mr. Smith for serious violations of the law that hamper the ability of our criminal justice system to do its job. My hope is that this case is resolved fairly and expeditiously for the sake of the citizens of Hinds County."
The three-count indictment alleges that Smith conspired with former Assistant DA Ivon Johnson and with unnamed co-conspirators to hinder the prosecution of criminal defendant Christopher Butler in four different Hinds County Circuit Court cases. The grand jury indicted Smith for violating Mississippi Code Section 97-11-3 based on allegations that Smith met with Butler at the Hinds County Jail outside the presence of Butler's attorney, advised Butler's attorney about ways to undermine the State's case against Butler, and sought to have Butler released from jail.
Johnson pleaded guilty in federal court in July to conspiring to take money in exchange for lowering bond for a criminal defendant.
As with all cases, a charge is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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21 comments:
Insert Dramatic Music here:
Why didn't he do this in the first place instead of wasting time?
... Jim Hood is not an idiot. I'm thinking the initial ploy was an attempt to get him to resign, but then RSS fought back and made it clear he'd do no such thing, so now the real battle/prosecution starts. (P.S. I can see why he want to avoid a grand jury in Hinds County!... and I live there.)
@2:39 - maybe a bit of legal strategy? Maybe it was easier to get Ivon Johnson to cooperate because of the initial arrest of Smith? Maybe the AG isn't sharing everything he does with you? Or maybe you are just one of those people that gripe and complain about everyone and everything even though you are not nearly as smart as you think you are.
The wheels on the bus go round and round
Round and round
Round and round
The wheels on the bus go round and round
All 'round the town
And now that song will be in my head the rest of the day! :)
insert Law & Order them song here!
RSS Throwing away a freeking career for a CRIMINAL!!! Is it that serious? This will make for a good unbelievable true movie. I just can't wrap my head around it! All for a damn INMATE.
White AG - Black DA. CLEARLY nothing more than a racist ploy on the part of "the Man" to bring a brotha' down.
Just wanted to be the first to acknowledge where this whole thing is headed...
Hood ain't white, he is a redneck hick.
It's obvious the guy knew too much about Smith and that's why Smith was protecting him. Nothing else makes sense.
@3:11
point 1 - probably correct
point 2 - probably correct
point 3 - very, very likely
point 4 - absolutely correct.
Make for a good unbelieveable true movie? Yes, was planning on just doing a mini-series on the Harem at City Hall featuring the Mayor, but with this going on at the same time, think it will be a full year series. Grab the popcorn - the next few months should be interesting.
Let the bodies hit the floor
put his ass in jail
Y'all should read Butler's point of view in the attachments KingFish put in yesterday. Very interesting.
Does anyone else find it curious that it takes a year to indict rape and murder cases, but we get an indictment in one day for this?
Can someone more intimately involved in Law clarify this for me?
The indictments for rape and murder are up to the DA - who seems to have been preoccupied taking care of friends that were already indicted.
Trying to get a case to court today in Hinds County is even worse - because of this mess with our DA nobody is willing to deal with the docket.
Goes from being bad to terrible. Thanks Robert.
Robert G. Anderson signed the indictment. Did AG retain outside counsel? I thought Anderson was at Butler Snow.
6:28 you are not real smart so I'll explain. The AG's office has a few attorneys that work there. And it's not uncommon for people to have similar names.
What are you all talking about. Look Robert Smith's office is absolutely corrupt. Lets go through the list of things that might suggest RSS is the problem and not everyone else:
1. He has had a file clerk Steven Smith plead guilty to bribery charges a couple of years ago.
2. recently Ivan Johnson, who was Robert's most trusted ADAs plead guilty to federal bribery charges
3. Three Judges (two black and one white) Weil, Green & Priester have all complained of his behavior and made formal bar complaints
4. The Special Master that was appointed to the case, Amy Whitten complained about RSS attempting to have ex parte communication with her
5. Robert campaign manager Robert "Too Sweet" Henderson has recently been indicted and is implicated with Ivan Johnson--when has a DA ever used a known felon to participate actively in a political campaign for a DA's race. He also advocated for Henderson to be pardoned when Haley Barbour let over 200 felons go
6. RSS openly attempts to stop the AG's office from prosecuting Butler in matters that have nothing to do with the drug cases that RSS claims MBN framed Butler with. This cases happened in 2011-2012. The AG cases are 2016 cases. Why was RSS attempting to prevent the prosecution of Butler in those matters
7. The AG office arrests Smith on charges of defending criminals and ultimately indicts him. BTW Jim Hood is the only state wide democrat in Mississippi. I think it is safe to say that most people in this state and hold him in high regard. Conversely, most people think RSS is on drugs. Several judges have commented on his erratic behavior and the fact that he slipped a note from his mommy under Judge Green's door would suggest his judgment is impaired--really a grown man slipping a note to a circuit judge and thinking that would end well
8. Look at the number of ADAs that started with RSS and are no longer with him. How about none. To put this in perspective these are jobs that pay over a 100K a year. More have quit than were terminated. Why?????? Because RSS is insane No other DA's office in the state has this type of turn over. Jamie is the last hold out and he is willing to do anything to keep his job. He is a jellyfish. Yes he is amicable and he smiles, but definitely not the type of person you would want in a fight. He is has more concern about his expensive life style than his own integrity.
9. This personal vendetta he has against Turk and Beasley. What is that about???? Maybe he is upset because they are doing their jobs and he is not. The part about the political corruption makes no sense. If THERE IS CORRUPTION THEN-0- why has he not contacted the FBI. Remember when he was arrested, the FBI joined Hood in commenting in the press conference
10. He fired Kenny Lewis an investigator with more moral integrity that McBride ever had. The difference between Kenny Lewis and McBride is that Lewis would not blindly do Robert's bidding.
11. I have also noticed a lack of support for RSS. Where are all of those folks that jumped on the bandwagon initially--Little Chuckway?? (I misspelled it on purpose) Kenny Stokes??? Where is the NAACP?? Surely if a black leader in the capital city of Jackson is being wrongly targeted this organization would be making some noise. Maybe because educated people know what you are not willing to admit. RSS is a crook a sham and a disgrace
So please tell me how RSS is helping either community--black or white????????
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