Jackson Jambalaya

Hinds County is doomed.

That's why we can't have nice things

Looks like the Feds will have to do what the State could not do. Yet again. Don't get to comfortable, I have a feeling this isn't over.

Surprise surprise. They have made a dent in Hattiesburg, maybe they'll do a little up there.

Um the feds are the one's who dumped this on the state. They don't want it. Is Hood trying to alienate the black vote for his governorship dreams?

A Hinds County jury won't do it, I don't believe. And it's not necessarily because they think he's innocent. That "crew" has its ways of handling defectors of "the program."

What they (Hinds Co.) have set up makes the sovereignty commission look like the Boy Scouts.

KF- I don't know how you do this day in and day out. There is so much negative, corrupt, lawless things that happen in this state on a daily basis. Your site just happens to cover the bad things that happen in the Jackson area. How in the hell do you deal with this type of stuff everyday without losing your mind?

to 7:59,,,, the feds are not interested in a dog germs case like RSS

The jury was 10 black and 2 white.When the jury came back the first time they said they were deadlocked 10 to 2. Then they were 12 to 0. Hmmmm. Wonder what went on in that jury room.

Trump wishes he would be so lucky

The citizens in Hinds County have proven once again that they don't care about crime and corruption or the rule of law in their county. I don't want to hear their complaints anymore.

Jackson, MS Rest In Peace
1822 - 2017

The people of Jackson and Hinds County need to shut up now about crime. Keep electing the idiots and don't cry when your son and daughters get shot. Racism has gotten worse over the last decade.

Should have had a stronger case.

He's bullet proof now.

He's gonna blow some folks up

At the end of the day, the system works.

When Casey Anthony or a white police officer gets off, the system work. When a black defendant gets off, the jury is racist or idiots that don't care about crime. Folks I believe that would be a double standard.

Why would anyone vote for James Hood for governor when he can't prosecute a cut and dried case like this?

In October, he'll face Rankin in a civilian capacity instead of a public servant/D.A capacity.
Correct me if I'm wrong.

@11:16
You're wrong. He is still an elected official. You still have a questionable indictment: Guest confirmed early on that he did not invite the AG's office in and had nothing to do with the indictment. Sources at the AG's office told this insider that the indictment was obtained in am effort to pressure RSS to plead to the charges he was just acquitted of. So now Hood is stuck with another loser case that his people can't dismiss without risking being guilty of the same accusation of hindering prosecution that they accused RSS of. Even though ever DA's office regularly Nolle Pros like junk cases every day. So Anderson will once again he called upon to go forward with unfounded charges and continue to lose the respect of fellow attorneys. Bob, save what's left of your reputation and tell dad no.

@9:22

No surprise here. He could have gotten away with 1st degree murder with that jury.

The whole system in Hinds is messed up; criminals and defense attorney's love it. Everybody else not so much. Even if they do get time, they don't have a "jail" that the DOJ approves of.

So guess what Rankinites get to do? Pay for the expansion of our own county jail to better contain the spillover from the Hinds County catch and release program in addition to housing our own native hoodlums because Jackson simply can't tax their residents even more in a feasible way to pay for a new detention center to call their own.
The tax payers of Rankin County have a VERY vested interest in seeing Hinds County get cleaned up as best as possible and as fast as possible.
You ask why we're interested, now you know.
At this point, you don't get to tell us to "shut up" on the matter.

There are still pending bar complaints which could short circuit this.

It's the Ferguson Effect - Quiet Version. Same mentality that elected Antar on the first ballot and that will convict the white business owner who shot the auto burglar struggling to take away his gun. Blacks and whites simply inhabit different planets now.

@1037, This has nothing to do with race and everything to do with the rule of law. RSS has now been given a pass to violate the law after committing multiple felonies. How anyone can now expect this office to be honest is beyond reasonable imagination. This behavior didn't just start with this case and it won't end with it either.

The citizens of Hinds County elected this man to an office which is responsible for the rule of law in Hinds County and now they have reaffirmed his status. The Hinds County DA is now above the law according to the citizens of Hinds County. The citizens of Hinds County have no room to complain about crime in their county after this. The standard has been set.

The jury did the right thing. RSS never saw the parts of the video showing Butler handling the drugs because the AG's office had not provided it. The AG's office should never have pursued the case. It was apparently a vendetta. Shame on them.

Can we talk about how Jackson's mayor walked in the courtroom - AFTER the judge had started reading jury instructions (hell, he was nearly done with them) - spoke with RSS's parents, and stuck around just long enough for the jury to see him.

It was as if he'd watched "Ghosts of Mississippi" to see exactly how Barnett did it during the De La Beckwith trial.

I don't want to hear another Hinds County Assistant District Attorney accuse a defense attorney of "theatrics" ever again.

this was a rehash of the frank melton trial. a lot of parallels. both defendants elected by 80% of the voters. no-one should be surprised they skated

The only way Jackson & Hinds county is going to get cleaned up is when Kim Jong-In nukes it.

The AG prosecution (disgruntled former assistant DA's) did not or could not
produce the one element of the case which would have sunk RSS. MOTIVE.
Even when Butler was on the stand could not show that Butler or anyone gave RSS anything of value in exchange for his help. At least at the last trial they clumsily attempted to show that RSS might have taken a bribe. The jury had to believe that RSS is a pro bono DA/public defender and they didn't. In
the long run the jury didn't trust MBN and the AG's office and RSS says he didn't trust MBN and the Ag's office. Hence not guilty.

@10:37
Quit race baiting. You are the racist. This blog covered the Karen Irby case and the murdering Bell thug when the CL did very little. The NE Jackson punk that ran over the black guy in west Jackson didn't fare well on this site either.

I talked to the black wife of a black cop in Memphis. Suffice it to say, her opinion on Ferguson, MO is the opposite of your viewpoint.

If Robert Gray puts his name on the ballot he will take Hinds County easily and Jim Hood won't even win the Democratic nomination for governor.

10:25am, many on this site are saying RSS got off only because he's black and in Hinds county. Ignoring the fact that two members of the jury were white. And also ignoring the fact that the prosecution never presented a motive for RSS to be hindering Butler's prosecution. Why would they take a case to trial without any idea of a motive?

Perhaps the jury was smarter than many on this site, and realized the state didn't have much of a case.

Bring back Ed Peters! At least he won't screw the public for free.

@Pitt- I get that you're not from here and aren't accustomed to very plausible local realities, and you do have a point-they didn't bring their A-game on this especially when you start to think of what little constitutes conspiracy in the MS code (creepy)-- imagine making a joke about doing something with no intention of doing it and then getting sent to jail.

What was deliberated in that jury room, we'll never truly know. But you only need to ask yourself one question about all of this: If the State hadn't intervened, would Butler be in jail?

I firmly believe that RSS was guilty of this charge and plenty of other corruption (as well as perfectly legal incompetence). I also believe that the State had a terrible case, which was presented terribly to a frustrated jury and impatient judge trying it for the second time. I am reminded of the truism quoted succinctly by Omar: "Lesson here, 'Bey: You come at the king, you best not miss..."

General Hood was so quick to remind the public that 'the defendant has other felony charges pending'- Let him come try the Rankin case rather than continually sending his staff- Everybody else from the AG's office was at the trial except the attorney general- If you are so quick to remind everyone that Robert Smith is still facing felony charges, then have the stones to put your rep on the line and try the case Mr. Hood-

The AG seems fairly capable of lining up all sorts of judges, drug pushers,
former assistants, girlfriends, and other various turncoats to testify that
Smith helped a criminal defendant. They even had one scumbag pretend to be his
friend and wear a wire. But after all that they still don't have one sliver of
evidence that Smith takes bribes or money in return for his "help". They better
trump up something and get this guy before he makes people think lawyers work for
free. The Bar Association will have a fit.

11:53am, would Butler be in prison if not for the video of him handling the marijuana? Maybe not. But if the state had such irrefutable evidence against Butler, why wouldn't they show it to RSS? Perhaps if they do, RSS backs down from "trying to help someone from getting railroaded." And this whole trial maybe doesn't need to happen.

But they hid the video, RSS continued helping Butler, and the trial happened, but with no motive. No motive, no conviction.

Ummm.... PittPanther. You seem to be a professional at opining about things with either completely incorrect facts or by just ignoring facts since it doesn't fit your attempted argument.

Life is, indeed, much easier if you can make up things as you go and ignore reality and facts. Look at Al Gore

Why does everyone care about this outcome? Because the very nature of good and bad has been shot to hell. Smith took "protection money" from Butler. That is why he went out of his way to get rid of anyone who would not railroad the Butler cases. That is why he acted like a defense attorney instead of district attorney. That is why he made himself look stupid in courtrooms. He is a disgrace to the legacy that his family tried to create. He could have turned out to be a great role model; however, now he is just a washed-up, failure of a person who has been protected for the sake of "blackness" or "black man on trial by white man". His day will come. This ain't over yet. I'm done with Hinds County and all of the misguided people who live here. What goes around comes around. When the crime hits you, who are you going to turn to?

Hey dumbass at 845....RSS had the video WAY BEFORE the AGs office ever heard of the Butler case. Hinds county is lost to the weak minded sheep...need proof this jury and hennuf stokes

old saying,,,,,, DANGEROUS GAME HAS TO BE TAKEN WITH ONE SHOT. if you miss or wound it, its gonna come looking for you. the AG missed, and smith now is gonna somehow go after them.

I agree with 4:40. Also, who wants to make wager on how long it will be before he fires Jamie McBride?

Smith took protection money from Butler. Dang dude- the AG tried for years and two trials to prove that and couldn't. If they had only called you as a witness. Shame on you for not coming forward .

RSS continued helping Butler

Precisely. That's the crime.

There's only problem in obtaining a conviction.

Explain the basic elements of "conflict of interest" to the average Hinds County juror?

You'll have better luck teaching a dog a card trick.

to 6;04.. I've been a courtroom lawyer for 30 years, and hinds county jurors are not as stupid as you think they are.

to 5:55....dont quit your day job. you would never make it as a professional gambler.

to the legal expert at 4:05.........your chicken manure little rant amounts to the old saying....ITS ALL OVER BUT THE SHOUTING.

Gotta accept the verdict. Crazy or irrational or irresponsible or bad judgment does not equal guilty of a crime. And that my friends is the bottom line!!!

That jury just wanted to get the hell out of there, they did not care.

I've been a courtroom lawyer for 30 years, and hinds county jurors are not as stupid as you think they are.

Only 18 years here.

They're either stupid, or regularly, intentionally ignore facts and evidence because of race. Hinds County jurors are exceptionally receptive to appeals to their emotions. They either don't understand jury instructions (probable), or ignore them entirely (not unlikely).

So, Counselor, I respectfully disagree.

Crazy or irrational or irresponsible or bad judgment does not equal guilty of a crime.

A prosecutor paid by the state is forbidden from aiding any criminal defendant in any way.

There's a statute. Any law student who's taken ethics knows this.

Smith knew it. He did it. Intentionally. That's not crazy or irrational or irresponsible. It's willful criminal activity.

And Hinds County jurors don't care.

Jackson gets what it deserves.

If it wasn't for lawyers, people wouldn't need lawyers.#scumbags

to 11:03 wow, what brilliant reasoning. ill concede your point that if things were different , they wouldn't be the way they are now.

to 8:49... you sound like an attorney who can't win a case, so you blame it all on race.