Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Mistrial!

A mistrial was declared in State v. Joshua Archie.  Circuit Judge John Emfinger declared the mistrial after the jury could not reach a verdict.  Archie was indicted for capital murder in the 2012 death of Party City (Ridgeland) Manager Bobby Adams.

38 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ridgeland juries are going the way of Jackson's. Prayers for the victim's family, as always.

Did the DA prosecute, or someone from Ridgeland?

Anonymous said...

Michael Guest what in the world happen?

Anonymous said...

Composition of the jury???

Anonymous said...

@9:02

This was NOT a "RIDGELAND" jury. It was a Madison County jury. All of the jurors could have been from Canton or Camden or Flora or Madison. Get the point?

Anonymous said...

what in the world?!

Anonymous said...

Clear example of the DA’s Office thinking it was an open and shut case with mediocre preparation. Tom Fortner just went beast mode as usual.

Anonymous said...

why a county jury for a crime comitted in the city of Ridgeland, a city with it's own police force and courts?

Anonymous said...

10:50. Because. That is the way the government of laws works. The crime was a state law, not violation of a city ordinance. Cities are "allowed" by state law, counties are created as a part of the state. Violation of a STATE statute are prosecuted and tried by a function of the state - i.e. a District Attorney and a county jury. Because it was committed in the COUNTY of Madison, with its own law enforcement and COUNTY COURTS, is why it is prosecuted by MADISON COUNTY in MADISON COUNTY. Go back to the 0th grade civics class and see if you can pass this time.

Anonymous said...

city courts have jurisdiction over misdemeanors and traffic offenses only. they only handle preliminary hearings on felonies.

circuit court has exclusive jurisdiction over felony offenses and its juries are drawn at random county wide.

11:23, you could use a refresher course yourself.

Anonymous said...

I remember a stand up bit Lewis Grizzard did years ago about not being able to find 12 people in Louisiana who thought stealing was a crime...
Looks like the Madison jury pool has reached that step.... dad.

Merry Pason said...

Not having been in the courtroom, I can only assume poor preparation and presentation are at hand. Somebody needs 'a refresher course' alright.

Anonymous said...

By the time they get it right he will get out on time served. He's been in almost 5 years already.

Bill Dees said...

1) There are some pretty ignorant people commenting on this blog; 2) The only people who could post an intelligent comment on this hung jury are people who heard all of the evidence and the jury instructions. All others are rank speculation.

Anonymous said...

all you monday morning quarterbacks and legal experts need to understand that by definition, a felony criminal jury trial is not a rigged proceeding with a predetermined outcome. a lot of things can happen in a courtroom, both good and bad for either side.

Anonymous said...

Mississippi will continue to be a vast wasteland with a few islands that are worth living on. The island around Jackson is getting smaller each day.

Anonymous said...

IMPOSSIBLE. Only Hinds County does that. We all know that Hinds County never convicts anybody, especially if they are Black. This must be some kind of Black conspiracy to infiltrate Madison County juries. We won't sit still for this.
Back in the good ole days we would get a bunch of the good ole boys together and go down to the jail and ...

Anonymous said...

An innocent man was killed. Doesn't that matter to people in Madison?
Has Madison became an extension of Jackson? Not a lot of difference in Madison and Jackson if you are a law abiding citizen.

Anonymous said...

Huh. Crime caught on video. Accused walks free. Who could imagine such a thing happening in these here United States of America? I. Am. Shocked!

Anonymous said...

Has Madison became an extension of Jackson?

Madison County has become an extension of Hinds County.

Anonymous said...

Apparently we don't all understand that a mistrial is not an acquittal.

Anonymous said...

8:37 I know you are joking, but there are some of these bloggers who might condone that kind of action even in 2017. I wish they could understand that a functioning justice system means that even the most heinous perp among us has the right to a fair trial and the benefits and faults of the jury system. This mistrial only verifies the fact that juries in Madison County are not already programmed to convict without due consideration and the state must prove it's case. If the state can do that, they should simply retry this guy and do a better job. Justice is served.

Anonymous said...

I have personally sat on two juries in the last 10 years. One being last year in the same Madison County court as this mistrial. I was floored that once all evidence was presented the jury room vote was racially divided. The Madison District attorneys office did an excellent job presenting case. Composition of jury is spot on..

Anonymous said...

You need look no further than who tried it for the State to know it wasn't a slam dunk case. If it had been, Guest would have been trying it. He didn't.

Anonymous said...

I sat on a jury too... It wasn't the man's race that caused us to acquit him. It was the fact that DA didn't prove their case.

Anonymous said...

Or, the evidence wasn't sufficient to reach a conviction. It's the government's burden of proof. Don't put this on the jury.

Anonymous said...

I'll be interested to see how this became a mistrial. Guest got Archie's accomplice to flip and confess. That, combined with all the other elements of the case, should've resulted in life. The accomplice got 45 years:
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2014/02/45-years-in-party-city-murder.html?m=1.

Tom Fortner must be a beast in the courtroom. I think he's representing one of Kingston Frazier's murderers. They better get their stuff air right before that trial begins. Too similar of a situation.

Anonymous said...

As a practicing attorney, I am amazed that people think if a mistrial happened, it's because the blacks voted not guilty. Contrary to popular belief, blacks vote guilty in all the time in Hinds, Madison, Rankin and every other county there is.

Sometimes, the DA doesn't meet there burden. It's often interesting in a high profile case when the DA doesn't try the case. That often means that dont want to be sitting at the table if a not guilty verdict comes down.

Proving someone guilty is the highest burden and it is sometimes difficult to mean, even when everyone knows the person is guilty.

Lastly, I hear Tom Fortner tried the case. He is a great attorney. Good attorney sometimes mean the difference between a guilty verdict and a mistrial. This is why you see plea deals that the DA doesnt really like but it means the victims family does have to keep reliving what happened and taxpayers dont keep paying for trials that dont produce a resolution.

Kingfish said...

You better bring your A game if Fortner is the attorney. Go watch those prelims for the Kingston Frazier accused killers and compare him to the other two defense lawyers.

I Didn't Speculate - I Assumed.. said...

I hope Bill Dees will cut me some slack. At least I did say 'Having not been in the courtroom, I can only assume.....'. That doesn't exactly rise to his bar of ignorance and rank speculation.

PS: Who the fuck does Bill Dees think he is? Anyway?

Anonymous said...

Does Michael Guest have an A game?

Anonymous said...

@12:17 - I agree with you there. I also sat on a jury for a case Guest prosecuted, and it was a pretty slipshod investigation and case. Black man acquitted by a mostly white jury in Rankin. It does happen.

Merry Pason said...

On this blog we periodically get to see pleadings and certain other papers sent to the court by attorneys. Most of them are very poorly structured, sloppy in detail, contain misspellings and generally represent mediocre work. I believe the 'practicing attorney' at 2:05 is a good example of that.

Anonymous said...

15+ years ago an old circuit court judge (now deceased) told me that Fortner was the most skilled criminal defense attorney that routinely practiced in his court. Fortner has only gotten better since then.

Anonymous said...

Is Joshua Archie's uncle David Archie, that was interviewed on TV, the same David Archie who is the uncle of little Kingston Frazier that was killed a few months ago?

Bill Dees said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

'taint no 2:07PM on here. Try again.

Bill Dees said...

Thanks!
@2:47 PM: I'm a former lawyer with 40+ years of trial experience. I tried to verdict more than 120 jury trials. You?

Anonymous said...

Has the DA's office announced whether or not they are going to retry him?



Recent Comments

Search Jackson Jambalaya

Subscribe to JJ's Youtube channel

Archives

Trollfest '09

Trollfest '07 was such a success that Jackson Jambalaya will once again host Trollfest '09. Catch this great event which will leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Othor Cain and his band, The Black Power Structure headline the night while Sonjay Poontang returns for an encore performance. Former Frank Melton bodyguard Marcus Wright makes his premier appearance at Trollfest singing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Kamikaze will sing his new hit, “How I sold out to da Man.” Robbie Bell again performs: “Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Bells” and “Any friend of Ed Peters is a friend of mine”. After the show, Ms. Bell will autograph copies of her mug shot photos. In a salute to “Dancing with the Stars”, Ms. Bell and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith will dance the Wango Tango.

Wrestling returns, except this time it will be a Battle Royal with Othor Cain, Ben Allen, Kim Wade, Haley Fisackerly, Alan Lange, and “Big Cat” Donna Ladd all in the ring at the same time. The Battle Royal will be in a steel cage, no time limit, no referee, and the losers must leave town. Marshand Crisler will be the honorary referee (as it gives him a title without actually having to do anything).


Meet KIM Waaaaaade at the Entergy Tent. For five pesos, Kim will sell you a chance to win a deed to a crack house on Ridgeway Street stuffed in the Howard Industries pinata. Don't worry if the pinata is beaten to shreds, as Mr. Wade has Jose, Emmanuel, and Carlos, all illegal immigrants, available as replacements for the it. Upon leaving the Entergy tent, fig leaves will be available in case Entergy literally takes everything you have as part of its Trollfest ticket price adjustment charge.

Donna Ladd of The Jackson Free Press will give several classes on learning how to write. Smearing, writing without factchecking, and reporting only one side of a story will be covered. A donation to pay their taxes will be accepted and she will be signing copies of their former federal tax liens. Ms. Ladd will give a dramatic reading of her two award-winning essays (They received The Jackson Free Press "Best Of" awards.) "Why everything is always about me" and "Why I cover murders better than anyone else in Jackson".

In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The “Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless” booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word “jackass” was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up.


In order to help clean up the legal profession, Adam Kilgore of the Mississippi Bar will be giving away free, round-trip plane tickets to the North Pole where they keep their bar complaint forms (which are NOT available online). If you don't want to go to the North Pole, you can enjoy Brant Brantley's (of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance) free guided tours of the quicksand field over by High Street where all complaints against judges disappear. If for some reason you are unable to control yourself, never fear; Judge Houston Patton will operate his jail where no lawyers are needed or allowed as you just sit there for minutes... hours.... months...years until he decides he is tired of you sitting in his jail. Do not think Judge Patton is a bad judge however as he plans to serve free Mad Dog 20/20 to all inmates.

Trollfest '09 is a pet-friendly event as well. Feel free to bring your dog with you and do not worry if your pet gets hungry, as employees of the Jackson Zoo will be on hand to provide some of their animals as food when it gets to be feeding time for your little loved one.

Relax at the Fox News Tent. Since there are only three blonde reporters in Jackson (being blonde is a requirement for working at Fox News), Megan and Kathryn from WAPT and Wendy from WLBT will be on loan to Fox. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both and a torn-up Obama yard sign will entitle you to free drinks served by Megan, Wendy, and Kathryn. Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required. Just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '09 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.


Note: Security provided by INS.

Trollfest '07

Jackson Jambalaya is the home of Trollfest '07. Catch this great event which promises to leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Sonjay Poontang and his band headline the night with a special steel cage, no time limit "loser must leave town" bout between Alan Lange and "Big Cat"Donna Ladd following afterwards. Kamikaze will perform his new song F*** Bush, he's still a _____. Did I mention there was no referee? Dr. Heddy Matthias and Lori Gregory will face off in the undercard dueling with dangling participles and other um, devices. Robbie Bell will perform Her two latest songs: My Best Friends are in the Media and Mama's, Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to be George Bell. Sid Salter of The Clarion-Ledger will host "Pin the Tail on the Trial Lawyer", sponsored by State Farm.

There will be a hugging booth where in exchange for your young son, Frank Melton will give you a loooong hug. Trollfest will have a dunking booth where Muhammed the terrorist will curse you to Allah as you try to hit a target that will drop him into a vat of pig grease. However, in the true spirit of Separate But Equal, Don Imus and someone from NE Jackson will also sit in the dunking booth for an equal amount of time. Tom Head will give a reading for two hours on why he can't figure out who the hell he is. Cliff Cargill will give lessons with his .80 caliber desert eagle, using Frank Melton photos as targets. Tackleberry will be on hand for an autograph session. KIM Waaaaaade will be passing out free titles and deeds to crackhouses formerly owned by The Wood Street Players.

If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.

Note: Security provided by INS
.