Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Alston Continues to Get Continued

The trial for Sheldon Alston, Jr. is scheduled to take place during the April term of the Lafayette County Circuit Court.  A grand jury indicted Sheldon Alston, Jr., for aggravated domestic violence and kidnapping in June, 2017.  The indictment accuses Alston of strangling and kidnapping his girlfriend on September 7-8, 2016 while he was a student at Ole Miss.  Alston faces prison sentences of 1 yr-to-life or 30 years for kidnapping, and from 2-to-20 years for aggravated domestic violence if convicted. Alston is 22 years old.


The trial was scheduled to take place during the January term of the Lafayette County Circuit Court. However, Winter came and went with no trial taking place for Alston just as happened in January, October, July, April, and January.   The District Attorney is Ben Creekmore.  The case is assigned to Judge Andrew Howorth.  JJ is withholding the victim's name from publication. Alston, Jr. is the grandson of prominent north Mississippi attorneys Flip Phillips and Alex Alston and the son of Jackson attorney Sheldon Altson.

The victim is also pursuing a civil case against Alston in Hinds County Circuit Court.  The complaint provides more details about the brutality she alleges took place that horrible night in September.  The complaint and its gruesome allegations can be read in this earlier post.   The criminal file is posted below.



34 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hang 'Em High

Anonymous said...

Justice Delayed is Justice Denied! Glad that wasn't one of my daughters.

Anonymous said...

Tick Tick Tick

Anonymous said...

Never let anyone in Lafayette County tell you that members of influential white families don't receive preferential treatment.

Anonymous said...

I have to believe that the victim and her family are using the threat of prison time as the result of a criminal conviction as leverage to milk the Alston's for a sh@tload of cash. The Alstons know that if Jr. goes to any of the MS correctional facilities, what will happen to him there will make what he did to that poor girl look like a game of "patty-cake" -- His life is effectively over.

I suppose that Alston Sr. is using his clout to delay things on the criminal side in order to work out the pay-off with the victim's family.

Question for those smarter than I in the legal world: if the family drops their criminal complaint against Alston, can the state still pursue him criminally, or is the case dismissed?

Anonymous said...

This is why your a blog and not really the media.

Anonymous said...

Attack happened in Sept 7-8, 2016.
Grand jury indicted June 2017.

No trial yet. Today is March 12, 2019.

Time since attack till today. 2 years,5 months,22 days Total

The JUSTICE System in Mississippi is a complete FARCE.



Cousin Eddie said...

2:41 PM
It was one of your daughters.

“Any person attacked diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.”

John Donne,Meditation XVII

Kingfish said...

1. He was indicted. Family can't drop indictment. 2. Fairly new law says law enforcement doesn't need victim's consent to prosecute. 3. Police have evidence. Pictures, medical report, hospital visit and testimony, and other evidence. They don't need her testimony as much as they do in other in other cases involving domestic violence.

Anonymous said...

Moronic comment @ 3:30 PM

Anonymous said...

good Christian boy. sings in the choir. loves his momma.

throw him to the boys at parchman...

Piss Ant Patrol said...

This is why your a blog and not really the media.

That's all you've got?

Anonymous said...

Judge Andy is a wannabee social worker and good ol' boy who went to OM. It's absolutely tragic that the victim and her family can't get justice in his courtroom. Is there any record of the reason(s) for delays besides just being requested as a lawyer's tactic?

Anonymous said...

IF it were my daughter or granddaughter and he did what he allegedly did and he gets off without any prison time I’m afraid I would have to apply some vigilante justice even though I would be putting my self at risk. Evidently his reputation is that he doesn’t think rules apply to him

Anonymous said...

Motion to fix, your honor.

Anonymous said...

As KF, mentioned, I think whether a criminal case can be prosecuted without the victim's consent/cooperation depends on whether the State thinks it can prove the case without his/her help. Once a prosecutor takes a case, it's the State's case, not the victim's.

Kingfish said...

3:30:

You're right. That's why all these high-profile so-called feminist reporters won't touch it or the Clark case.... or others.

Hermit King said...

"This is why your a blog and not really the media."
Being the subject of a Jackson Jambalaya blog post can sting. JJ gets the scoop and the credit by the media quite frequently.

Hail to the King...fish

Anonymous said...

Moreover, the people who are affected by the news get to weigh in on it and share their own opinions/views with each other, rather than having a professional commentator tell us what it means in a one-way fashion.

Anonymous said...

I echo the comment at 3:05 pm.

Never let anyone in Lafayette County tell you that members of influential white families don't receive preferential treatment.

Consider the DA. A drooling halfwit with not much of a work ethic BUT child of an influential local physician and rental property tycoon. Ben Creekmore is as corrupt as the day is long. For example "CJ" former hero of the OPD and drug court officer was discovered to have been exchanging preferential drug court treatment for sex. Something like, "I won't revoke you if you perform sex act on me" to comely young babes. Not to worry, this creep was permitted to plead to an expungable crime in BENTON County -- the farthest reaches of the third district. Wouldn't want him to lose his LE certification or have to register as the sex offender he is.

In another case a well-connected lawyer was observed by jail personnel smuggling contraband into the LCDC red-handed. Little Ben declined to go forward. The ADA who attempted to prosecute the case was promptly fired.

However he's no racist -- merely being black doesn't exclude you from local privilege. Consider "JF." He's presently in federal custody but back when his mom worked for little Ben Creepmore it is alleged that he "got away with murder." Literally. The list goes on and on.

Being part of the privileged class -- white or black -- is good stuff so long as you're on the receiving end of it. Not so hot for the rest of us.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like the Brian Clark aka Butler Snow. They probably brought Rep. Jeff Smith in as co-counsel so he could use his "legislative excuse" for being in session to get the case continued. He did this in Lowndes County a couple of years ago.

Anonymous said...

From all casual indications, this will be a multi-day/week complex trial with only the accused and alleged victim as eyewitnesses to the actual events, but lots of before-and-after witnesses, lots of defense experts and some prosecution counter-experts, lots of defense character witnesses and some prosecution counter-witnesses, etc., on top of which, it could turn into a media circus or "cause case," especially if some form or "affluenza" or other "novel" defense is being contemplated. I'm not saying any of that is fair or unfair, good or bad, proper or improper, or anything else, simply stating the fact that it isn't some garden-variety assault or domestic violence out of the 'hood or trailer park. As such, lots of things could factor into the numerous continuances. The filings, which I haven't seen, might provide more insight.

That said, from what I've read and heard, the evidence against him is substantive in both quality and quantity even without the victim's testimony. While good home cooking often takes some time, this is beginning to get to the scorched stage.

If his attorneys are delaying this, and the prosecutor and court are allowing it, due to his family's influence, they are not doing him, themselves or anyone else any favors. Yes, the delays allowed time for her injuries to heal, memories to fade, public sentiment to dissipate, settlements to be reached, etc., BUT it also allows time for social media spontaneous combustion, public and private anger to fester, for little Shelton to get into more trouble (which seems almost a given, sooner or later), etc.

If the delays have been due to attempts at a financial settlement (improper but happens all the time) but the parties haven't been able to reach one in two years, something else is in play. Similarly, if the delays have been as a result of plea-bargaining (proper and happens all the time) and no agreement has been reached, something else is at play. I'm sure at least one parent and little Shelton are scared shitless about the merest chance of him spending even a few months in prison and the whole bunch is upset at having the family name besmirched this publicly, so there are almost certainly some dynamics at play there, too. At the end of the day, it is often better to just rip the bandage off rather than peel it slowly and painfully. My guess would be that the lawyers in the family know that, even if they don't want to face it, just as I'd guess they know what little Shelton's prison life will be like even if they don't want to face that either.

Anonymous said...

8:41 am

Well said.

In the end....and i mean in the end....Alston is going to be a soft bunk mate for a very lonely hard man.

Anonymous said...

As long as we're re-quoting 3:30, could we point out that "your a blog" should be "you're a blog"? The comment still doesn't make a lot of sense. Is 3:30 trying to say "That is why you're a blogger and not a traditional journalist"?

Let's put Jerry Mitchell on it. After decades of recycling old articles, does he have the chops to cover something new? More realistically, "Go Kingfish, Go!"

Anonymous said...

" lots of defense character witnesses"


Name two.

Anonymous said...

Have the continuances been opposed? Seems an important detail.

Anonymous said...

Where is Shelton?

Anonymous said...

"Have the continuances been opposed? Seems an important detail."

Also, have the continuances all come from Alston's lawyers? From wherever the source, what is/are the stated reason(s)? As pointed out above, with an almost-certainty for a multiday/week complex trial, lots of schedules have to mesh, a jury panel has to be considered, etc.

As to character witnesses for little Sheldon, I cannot literally name any. I couldn't pick little Sheldon out of a lineup (pardon the analogy), but since it appears his family is footing the bill for this level of defense, I'd guess at least some family members and, at a minimum, friends of the family, will there to give at least the standard "none of this sounds like the sweet darling little Sheldon we have known since birth..." testimony. Then, there are those potential witnesses who have no negative testimony to offer, for example, a minister who can only say that for of his 22 or so years, he was always polite and respectful at church and are as safe as can be on cross, i.e., "I never saw him act..." Likewise, I'm sure a properly-prepared prosecutor has witnesses that will offer, for example, that little Sheldon has been a evil predator since conception and they have seen him involved in pagan rituals and animal sacrifice.

Anonymous said...

no one in his Scout troop was surprised

Anonymous said...

"no one in his Scout troop was surprised"

Well, then, his defense team won't be calling any of them and the prosecutor, even if he or she were dumb enough to try it, isn't going to be allowed to call them to offer up psych profiles they formed a decade or so when both he and they were 12 years old. Plus, statements that begin with "_No one_ or _everyone_ in [whatever group of people]..." are little more than often-incorrect hearsay and opinion. Even if you were one of them and personally spoke at length to every other member and every one of them told you in no uncertain terms that they were not surprised and you wanted to testify and the prosecution attempted to call you to testify to that, the jury would never hear it.

coffee and cornbread said...

Alston will not see a single day in prison.

Anonymous said...

There is a price to pay for any outcome. Doubtful this will die with the courts for the Alston's, Phillip's. Too much Southern stuff.

Anonymous said...

Please place some of that disdain towards the number of sexual assault victims that never receive justice in the surrounding counties. After Michael Guest left Rankin county his underlings couldn't or wouldn't make cases even when rapist confessed. No, lucrative payoffs for those victims...no jail time for the confessed rapist...no justice!! Justice doesn't seem to be the focus as the cases aren't high profile enough. All victims require support from the judicial system (all counties). Fix the judicial system and stop making it about the accused and/or accuser.


@3/12/2019 at 2:41 PM we are glad it wasn't your daughter and hope that you never have to look in her face and tell her justice will be served, when you aren't truly convinced yourself. What do you truly think justice looks like from the victim's vantage point??

Anonymous said...

Any news on this kid? Please don’t let this go away.



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