Mark Mayfield's family struck out at the United States Supreme Court.
Synopsis of Case
The entire case centered around Clayton Kelly's invasion of Rose Cochran's room at St. Catherine's Village during the 2014 Republican Senate primary race. She was the wife of Senator Thad Cochran and suffered from severe dementia. Kelly entered the room and took pictures of Mrs. Cochran in her disabled condition.
Mark Mayfield worked with others to plan the invasion of Mrs. Cochran's room. Kelly used the picture in a video designed to attack Senator Cochran before the election as they were strong supporters of his opponent, Chris McDaniel.
Kelly was arrested and indicted for his sordid excursion. Kelly pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary in 2015. Earlier post.
A Madison County grand jury indicted Mayfield. He committed suicide in his garage several days later.
Mr. Mayfield's wife Robin, and their two sons, Owen and William, sued the city of Madison, investigators Vickie Currie and Chuck Harrison, Butler Snow (Cochran campaign's lawyers), Amanda Barbour, Esq., and Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler in 2017 in U.S. District Court. The plaintiffs also sued every government official in their individual capacities. Earlier post.
The lawsuit claimed the defendants were guilty of kidnapping, false imprisonment, depriving the late Mr. Mayfield of his civil rights upon arrest, and other torts.
Mayfield was a prominent supporter of the Mississippi Tea Party. His family claimed the police arrested Mayfield in retaliation for his public support of Senatorial candidate Chris McDaniel. The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves.
The case dragged on as the two sides waged trench warfare for years. Judge Reeves dismissed Butler Snow and its associated personnel. The Court dismissed the lawsuit against the city of Madison, Investigator Harrison, and Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler in May 2021 as he granted their motion for summary judgment. Earlier post. He found the Madison police did not arrest Mayfield in retaliation for his support of Chris McDaniel. The Court held:
The City, in turn, has articulated a legitimate, non-retaliatory reason for Mayfield’s arrest. Based on the evidence gathered during its investigation, the City had probable cause that Mayfield conspired with others to trespass onto St. Catherine’s Village property.
An examination of the evidence adduced in this case satisfactorily answers these questions. Instead of rounding up the most vocal McDaniel supporters, city investigators followed the evidence from Kelly to Mary to Mayfield. The police were given free rein to conduct their investigation as they saw fit, without direction from the Mayor, a Cochran supporter. There is no evidence that before the Rose Cochran incident, the City of Madison was itching for an excuse to go after McDaniel supporters. And there is no evidence of differential treatment of McDaniel and Cochran supporters....
Judge Reeves took pains to note several people pleaded guilty to criminal charges in the nursing home caper.
The Court dismissed the case with prejudice. However, the Mayfields appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Fifth Circuit heard it all again as this was the plaintiffs second appeal to the Court in this case and ruled against them as it did the first time.
The Court said the Mayfields must first show an "absence of probable cause for the arrest." Unfortunately for their lawsuit, the Mayfields were unable to show no probable cause existed. "Allegations" established the conspirators had an intent to enter Ms. Cochran's room and take her picture. Thus the police officers enjoyed qualified immunity.
The Fifth Circuit found for Mayor Hawkins-Butler as well:
Here, Plaintiffs' best evidence merely establishes that the City of Madison was aggressively pursuing those who committed a potential invasion of the privacy of an incapacitated adult. The evidence doesn't show that the City carried out the investigation, arrest, search, or prosecution because of Mayfield's political views, which the Plaintiffs needed to show to succeed. The same is true of the Mayor: Although some evidence in the record suggests she knew the conspirators were McDaniel supporters, other evidence clarifies that she was not responsible for the prosecutorial decisions of the District Attorney's Office. The district court properly granted summary judgment for the City of Madison and its Mayor.
Attorney Dorsey Carson represented the plaintiffs.
17 comments:
the right decision.
the whole premise of this was just sickening and the people behind it criminal and disturbed.
Can't believe that lawyer family dragged this through the entire court system. What a frivolous lawsuit.
Yaawwwnn SSSssnnoorreee ZzzzzzzzZzz
As they should have.
Since you mentioned Chris McDaniel (which reminds me of the modern radical right approach now embraced by D J Trump), I am reminded of this quote by Alexander Hamilton in a letter to George Washington:
The truth unquestionably is, that the only path to a subversion of the republican system of the Country is, by flattering the prejudices of the people, and exciting their jealousies and apprehensions, to throw affairs into confusion, and bring on civil commotion. Tired at length of anarchy, or want of government, they may take shelter in the arms of monarchy for repose and security.
When a man unprincipled in private life desperate in his fortune, bold in his temper, possessed of considerable talents, having the advantage of military habits—despotic in his ordinary demeanour—known to have scoffed in private at the principles of liberty—when such a man is seen to mount the hobby horse of popularity—to join in the cry of danger to liberty—to take every opportunity of embarrassing the General Government & bringing it under suspicion—to flatter and fall in with all the non sense of the zealots of the day—It may justly be suspected that his object is to throw things into confusion that he may “ride the storm and direct the whirlwind.”
Chalk up another loss for McDaniels and all the fools that thought this Pine Belt fool was the greatest thi9ng since sliced bread.
The Supreme Court didn't buy it anymore than the lower courts did.
Sometimes your chit did stink, and all things you say still won't refloat that sunk ship.
Never ever will I support McDaniels. Prayers for the Mayfield family as they were believers of the wrong man. Not saying it was right but just like many other followers who get caught up in the wrong group. Mrs. Mayfield dedicated her life to teaching and I am forever grateful she touched the lives of my sons!
Everything about this one is sad to me. The whole idea of going into a nursing home----just sad and wrong. Mayfield committing suicide--sad. None of this should ever have occurred.
2:31 is spot on. The Tea Party movement began as a simple economic grassroots movement to restrain runaway government spending. Unfortunately, it quickly devolved into a refuge for the the religious right and other cretins. Demagoguery soon set in which gave rise to McDanielsism in Mississippi, and Trumpism, nationally. That's not to say that Trump did not have some good policy ideas. The problem is that it requires his supporters to overlook the serious character defects and personality disorders which afflict him.
Only one person benefitted by this circus - Attorney Dorsey Carson has received several hundreds of thousands dollars for this continuing Don Quixote adventure of Robin's as she spent hers (and for a long time, her son's) inheritence that had recently passed to Mark. And not completely the fault of the shyster; she went to him after no other lawyer in the area would take this dog of a case.
Glad the Supremes finally drove the last nail in this coffin; kinda smells like the continuing case of Julie Mabus a few years ago.
Wow. The corruption just goes all the way to the top.
@5:32
Do you honestly think anyone is going to reach that level of power without being initiated into one of the major secret societies who rule this planet?
@2:31
Bless your heart.
How they never directly tied McDaniel to this the whole time surprises me.
Sad for everyone involved. This did not have to happen.
I have a theory as to why this thing was never linked to McDaniel - Hello! Because he was not involved.
I'm sad the Supremes would not hear the case. I was so looking forward to Mary Hawkins being compelled to appear in her legal capacity.
We're used to a bunch of you uneducated blobs not knowing how to spell the name, but I'm surprised the ever-learned SaltWaterDaffy adds an 's' to McDaniel.
So sad. Just another example of the good ol boy club ruining an innocent life.
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