Former police officer Anthony Fox will get an another crack at bail after striking out twice. A Hinds County jury convicted the former JPD officer of culpable manslaughter in 2022 in the death of George Robinson. Fox's request to remain free on bond while he appealed his conviction was denied by the Circuit Court and Court of Appeals. However, the Mississippi Supreme Court said it will suspend the rules to consider his request for bond.
Judge Wooten sentenced Fox to serve 20 years in prison but suspended 15 years of the sentence in 2022. Judge Wooten denied his request to remain free on bond while appealing his conviction. Fox filed a notice of appeal with the Mississippi Court of Appeals as well as a motion for judgment not withstanding the verdict in Hinds County Circuit Court. Judge Wooten rejected the motion and denied his request for bond while he appealed the case in December after holding a hearing. The Court held Fox was a special danger to the community and should remain incarcerated. The former police officer took his fight to get a bond to the Court of Appeals. The Attorney General notified the Court she would not oppose his motion for bond. However, the family of the deceased opposed his release on bond in a response submitted to the Court.Judge John Emfinger decreed:
After a full consideration of all matters before the trial court in this cause, the trial court found that Fox's ""release would constitute a special danger to a person or to the community"" and that ""there are no peculiar circumstances of the case that render it proper for the convict, Anthony Fox, to be released after a felony conviction for manslaughter pending an appeal to the Supreme Court."After due consideration of the matters presented, we find that the circuit court did not abuse its discretion when it denied Fox's request for bail pending appeal.
Judges McCarty, Westbrook, McDonald, and Smith joined Judge Emfinger in his opinion. Judges Lawrence, Greenlee, Barnes, and Wilson joined Judge Carlton in her dissent.
Fox appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court. The Court held:
This matter is before the Court, en bane, on Appellant's motion. After due consideration, the Court finds that the Mississippi Rules of Appellate Procedure should be suspended pursuant to Mississippi Rule of Appellate Procedure 2(c) and that, pursuant to Mississippi Rule of Appellate Procedure 27(h)(8),this Court will review the orders denying Anthony Gerald Fox bail pending appeal and will issue a ruling in due course
Justices King, Coleman, and Kitchens objected to the decision in a blistering dissent. Justice King argued:
This Court's order wholly fails to identify what makes this an ""extraordinary case" as required by Rule 27(h)(8). Likewise, the order wholly fails to suggest any reason, justification, or good cause to mandate a suspension of the Rules of Appellate Procedure under Rule 2(c).1 15. Moreover, I question whether Rule 27(h) has any applicability whatsoever to the issue at hand today. Rule 27 provides for ""Reconsideration on Motions."" M.R.A.P. 27(h). A court cannot reconsider something that it never considered in the first place. This Court has never considered or ruled on any motion for bail pending appeal for Fox, so it defies logic that it could use Rule 27(h) as a vehicle to reconsider a motion for bail pending appeal that it has never even considered.
The briefs were submitted to the Court of Appeals in August. The Court will not hear oral arguments in the case. The Attorney General took the unusual step of asking the Court to overturn Fox's conviction. However, Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens filed a brief opposing the Attorney General's decision.
Stay tuned.
14 comments:
Free the Fox
Dear Governor Reeves,
Pardon this innocent man now.
Clearly the Supremes are going to reverse and render the conviction. What a shame! Cops should be held accountable for their crimes just as any other average citizen is. Oh, but lo and behold, because he was a cop, he gets special treatment. Sickening.
Tater Tot is not going to do anything. He's a do-nothing Governor.
"Pardon this innocent man now."
But let's be sure to execute Willie Manning even though he is innocent! Good grief what a double standard!
A Cluster
If Lynn Fitch is on your side, pick a new side cause you clearly got it wrong.
Virtually nobody understands the logic involved in refusing bail to a man convicted of manslaughter (who has no priors).
Meanwhile street urchin murderers are leased on bail every month in Jackson.
Cops should be held accountable for any crimes they commit just like anyone else, IF indeed a crime was committed but they nor anyone else should be held accountable if and when there was no crime, “just because they are a cop”. What is ‘sickening’ is when the law is supposed to be in place to be just, fair and equitable to ALL and not just the privileged few who have the resources at their disposal to effect the outcome they desire.
Prosecuting Fox was a complete travesty of justice.
The facts of the case show Fox did not kill George Robinson. Read the court transcript. Look at the evidence. It's sad society wants to persecute cops without any evidence.
Everyone involved in this case KNOWS Fox didn’t kill anyone… EVERY last one of them!!! The evidence bears that out in addition to the expert testimonies but when “agendas” are in play, there is little to no tolerance for JUSTICE. Travesty is too kind of a word for what took place here!!!
Again...What is the point of refusing bail?
Jan 14 at 5:51 - because Adrienne Wooten is a psycho monster.
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