Hinds County District Attorney Jamie McBride filed a motion to quash the indictment against him. A Hinds County grand jury indicted Mr. McBride earlier this month for two counts of conspiring with District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith and former Assistant District Attorney Ivon Johnson to help criminal defendants. Attorney Dale Danks represents Mr. McBride.
Mr. McBride argues that the indictment is invalid because Attorney General Jim Hood has no authority to prosecute the case or indict someone for this charge without the District Attorney's consent. The motion stated:
Co-Defendant, Jamie K. McBride, was indicted in the within Cause by a special grand jury called solely at the instance of the Mississippi Attorney General. All of the witnesses to the grand jury were subpoenaed at the instance of the Mississippi Attorney General and the Hinds County District Attorney took no part in calling such special grand jury nor presented any evidence before said grand jury. ...
No statutory authority exists which grants the Mississippi Attorney General the power to specially call a grand jury session. The State Grand Jury Act, §13-7-1 et seq. Miss Code Ann. specifically sets forth that the Attorney General may enter the grand jury while it is in session and assist the district attorney in the discharge of his duties. The statutes do not provide that the Mississippi Attorney General may have a grand jury empaneled. If the legislature had intended for the Mississippi Attorney General to be empowered to call a special grand jury, it would have so stated. To interpret these statutes otherwise would be contradictory to their legislative intent and impermissibly broaden the powers of the Mississippi Attorney General.....The question indictment itself is challenged:
Counts One and Two, of the Indictment in the within Cause, fail to charge a necessary element of the crime of hindering prosecution and as a consequence thereof are not legally sufficient and as such must be quashed. Both Count One and Two of the Indictment allege that Co-Defendant, Jamie McBride, "on or about and between the dates of December 1, 2015 and June 22, 2016 did then and there knowingly, unlawfully and feloniously, without authority of law, conspire with Ivon Johnson and others known and unknown to the Grand Jury to commit the crime of Hindering Prosecution in the First Degree in violation of §97-9-105 of the Mississippi Code, 1972, as amended, (Exhibit F) by conspiring to hinder the prosecution, conviction and punishment of Christopher Butler in Hinds County Cause Numbers . . .
Mr. McBridge charges that the indictment never alleges that he gave criminal assistance to Christopher Butler or anyone else. It does not city any specific actions he took to help criminal defendants. The indictment states that Mr. McBride helped criminal defendant Christopher Butler in two cases. However, Mr. Butler was not charged with any crime in one of those cases. Thus it would be impossible for the prosecutor to assist Mr. Butler as a defendant.
As the District Attorney said, stay tuned.
16 comments:
This is not really news. To be expected.
Good motion. He should win this one.
Can the AG please stop stepping on its d!ck. This is pathetic .
Thought I saw where the AG 'got permission' to carry case to Grand Jury. Granted, don't think they indicated at the time that they planned to indict RSS or McBride - but they did file notice and got agreement from DA for AG to go to Grand Jury. Maybe I'm missing something here (very possible in this grand maze of varying cases and indictments) but think that this motion might just be a delaying tactic.
During hearing last week, though RSS thought McBride would waive indictment. Guess Jamie showed him, huh?
Does the AG have to be invited in by the prosecutor to indict the prosecutor? Sort of doubt it.
Question: What if the DA were charged with murder, a crime not included in the AG authority, would the AG have to get his permission to prosecute him?
I would think that in your scenario, the governor would request the AG enter in writing.
What if this comes down to his having written a memo to his boss? BFD. How could that possibly be unlawful? He was just doing his job. If it is unlawful no one would become an assistant DA after this. AG appears to be going after the wrong guy here in going after the assistant doing his job.
@8:08
Unfortunately, that's what this comes down to. And of the most well liked prosecutors in the state. If the purpose if this was to scare the piss of every DA and ADA in the State, well done.
McBride's first argument alone should produce a dismissal of the indictment. It is not alleged that he committed any of the acts defined as rendering assistance to anyone, much less for any unlawful purpose. The AG needs to just let this go while he can. What a crock.
Not so fast 11:31. The whole scenario with McBride is an elementary attempt to get him to testify willingly against RSS. Do you really think law enforcement is as stupid and bumbling as you suggest? The men behind the curtain are Feds.
The intervention of a good judge is what is required.
The whole mess is a bunch of bungling fools. None of them really know the law and what they can and cannot do legally. Even the judges are included.
Makes people wonder who is the real crooks and who are the real fools. Some people would say all included would fit pretty well in both cases.
10:09 - I assume that includes you as well? Or you the only intelligent one - not in the room?
Hinds county should be proud. What would we have if all the corrupt lawyers--judges--"officials"-- Stokes'of Jackson were actually prosecuted as they should be?
10:09 AM
Some people would also say that you need to take a refresher course in basic grammar.
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