Jackson Jambalaya

A video of a confrontation between a Germantown Middle School student and a bus driver surfaced on Youtube recently.  The video is posted below. 

Update II (4:27 PM CST, 5/17/14): The first update was posted between 9:00 and 10:00 AM today.  The original post was published at 11:40 PM last night. It did not mention the identity of Rose Cochran.  The original headline stated "Madison Police arrest Clayton Kelly for sneaking into St. Catherine's".  I changed the headline to reflect the Rose Cochran angle this afternoon.  The problem was I posted right before midnight, hence leading to the confusion.  My apologies.  

Update (5/17/14): Clarion-Ledger beat JJ to it (We were both working on it at the same time although it beat JJ by a few minutes.)  but the victim was indeed Rose Cochran, wife of Senator Thad Cochran.  JJ confirmed her identity with several non-campaign sources.  She has lived at St. Catharine's since 2000 since she suffers from dementia.  She lives in a special unit dedicated to such patients.  A Youtube video with pictures of Mrs. Cochran in her bed was posted and soon taken down nearly two weeks ago.  Story is breaking.

Original post:  Madison Police arrest Clayton Kelly for sneaking into St. Catherine's Village.

The Madison Police Department just issued the following press release:

Time to set the record straight.  The JFP reported yesterday one of its reporters noticed a discrepancy in the votes from a precinct:

"The precinct, located in the Jackson Medical Mall, reported only 33 total votes, according to the official numbers from the Hinds County Election Commission. When this reporter and JFP intern Aaron Cooper stopped by the precinct around 2:30 p.m. on Election Day, though, 67 voters had already signed the roll.

Joyce Jackson said Tuesday night that one of her poll watchers saw more than 100 voter signatures at the Precinct 11 around the polls’ 7 p.m. closing time. Cooper-Stokes defeated Jackson by 163 votes..." Article

The reporter (who I consider to be a good one) couldn't seem to get a straight answer from any one in the county or city governments. Then of course Her Laddness had to chime in:

"We don't know. And we find it infinitely disturbing that no one in a position of election seems able to answer these questions and take responsibility. It doesn't add up, literally and figuratively."

Well, I seemed to have no problem getting answers this morning as there was a very logical explanation for the difference between signatures and votes. Hinds County Election Commissioner Connie Cochran and a source at city hall (don't want to get anyone in trouble for not having permission to speak to media) said there were two electronic voting machines for the precinct. The poll worker clicked on "export" too soon and the votes did not download. As it was approximately 80 votes, it appeared there were many more signatures than votes. When the second box was properly downloaded, the discrepancy disappeared.

This poor schmuck from Waste Management doesn't have a clue. The JPS school board awarded a $837,933 contract to competitor NCS/Waste Pro a few weeks ago. Waste Management served the district for the last three years. In case this guy didn't notice, he didn't have a chance. Good service. Lowest bid by over $50,000. No price increase for three years. Experience, good service, and lowest price. Didn't have a chance and poor guy didn't even know it. See the video below.

Jackson Jambalaya reviewed the 2009* audits of the school districts in the Jackson metro area. There are few surprises. For example, Rankin and Canton spent nearly the same amount of money on instructional costs per student (Teachers salaries) yet have different results on the report cards. One disturbing trend: the majority-black districts consistently ranked the highest in administrative costs while the majority-white ones usually ranked the lowest. One interesting fact was most of the schools spent within $250 per student on instructional costs. Another interesting fact was Rankin spent the lowest on general administration costs per student, $211, and did not even spend half the amount per student spent by the leader, Hinds. Despite all the criticism leveled at the Rankin County School District for being "top-heavy", the audits reveal it probably does the best job in the area of keeping administrative costs down. Here are the rankings. Read and weep.

Total cost per student:
1. Madison: $10,296 (High performing)
2. JPS: $9,848 (Academic watch)
3. Hinds: $9,628 (Successful)
4. Rankin: $9,661 (High performing)
5. Canton: $9,499 (At risk of failing)
6. Pearl: $8,904 (High performing)
7. Clinton: $8,802 (High performing)

Instructional cost per student:
1. Rankin: $5,631 (High performing)
2. Canton: $5,489 (At risk of failing)
3. JPS: $5,475 (Academic watch)
4. Madison: $5,381 (High performing)
5. Pearl: $5,368 (High performing)
6. Clinton: $5,219 (High performing)
7. Hinds: $4,998 (Successful)

General Administration cost per student:
1. Hinds: $517 (Successful)
2. Canton: $446 (At risk of failing)
3. Pearl: $384 (High performing)
4. JPS: $317 (Academic Watch)
5. Clinton: $278 (High performing)
6. Madison: $230 (High performing)
7. Rankin: $211 (High performing)

School Administration cost per student:
1. Rankin: $542 (High performing)
2. Canton: $518 (At risk of failing)
3. JPS: $502 (Academic Watch)
4. Hinds: $487 (Successful)
5. Clinton: $484 (High performing)
6. Pearl: $439 (High performing)
7. Madison: $428 (High performing)

Other costs per student:
1. Madison: $4,877 (High performing)
2. Hinds: $3,626 (Successful)
3. JPS: $3,555 (Academic watch)
4. Rankin: $3,277 (High performing)
5. Canton: $3,046 (At risk of failing)
6. Clinton: $2,821 (High performing)
7. Pearl: $2,713 (High performing)

*I used the 2009 audits because JPS has not provided any more recent audits to the auditor's office and didn't want to get into apples v. oranges. When more recent JPS audits become available, I will update the rankings. Data was taken from audits published by the State Auditor on his website. The information is found on pages 50's and 60's in the audits, after the federal funding table.

A Madison County grand jury indicted disbarred attorney Vann Leonard on four counts of embezzlement on February 1, 2012. Mr. Leonard was served with the indictment yesterday.

The indictment charges the disgraced attorney embezzled from Hitesh Desai, Kimberly Thomas, Edward Williamson, and Darrell Varner. Mr. Leonard was entrusted with money belonging to these clients and is accused of converting the money for his own use. It is not known how much money was allegedly embezzled by the former attorney. Mr. Leonard is charged under the embezzlement statute, 97-11-25, instead of fraud. Embezzlement carries a maximum sentence of twenty years in prison and/or a $5,000 fine. Fraud only carries a ten year sentence.

Vann Leonard pleaded guilty in federal court to several charges of mail and wire fraud in January. He currently awaits sentencing. Mr. Leonard has resided at the Rankin County jail since May 2011 after Chancery Judge Grant incarcerated him after finding him in contempt of court. Mr. Leonard was accused of embezzling from the Downing estate and did not return the money in question when ordered to so by Judge Grant. Mr. Leonard pleaded guilty a year ago to embezzling $327,000 from the bankruptcy estate of Shirley Douglas in the Northern District of Mississippi (Federal). Mr. Leonard remained free pending sentencing until jailed by Judge Grant. Mr. Leonard's federal sentence will apparently not being to run until he is released from the Rankin County jail. Mr. Leonard was indicted by a Rankin County grand jury for embezzlement in the Downing estate.

A grand jury indicted former attorney Vann Leonard today for one count of embezzlement in the Downing estate.

Mr. Leonard currently resides in the Rankin County jail, courtesy of Judge Grant. The Chancellor imprisoned Mr. Leonard after he found him in contempt of court. An earlier JJ post reported the alleged embezzlement:

"Local attorney Vann Leonard is currently incarcerated in the Rankin County jail after a judge found him in contempt of court on May 5, 2011. Mr. Leonard was the attorney for the executrix of the estate of Bobbie Downing. Mr. Downing owned several properties. One property was sold after his death and the court permitted $111,925 to be placed in Mr. Leonard's trust account to satisfy expenses. Heir Samuel Downing asked for an accounting of the estate and the monies placed with Mr. Leonard. Mr. Downing filed a motion October 8, 2010 to compel an accounting of the estate. Mr. Downing pointed out Bobbie Downing died in 2005 and the estate still had not been inventoried due to the failure of the executrix and Vann Leonard to provide any information about the funds and accounts in their possession. The parties agreed to an order on December 10 to provide the accounting within thirty days (File is posted below.).

Well, what do you know but here comes Vann Leonard on January 4, 2011 with the "dog ate my homework" excuse. Mr. Leonard you see, would have loved to provide the accounting of the funds. He really wanted to help the court. The only problem is "On December 26, 2010, he discovered that his computer would not "start up" correctly, nor would it allow him to retrieve files recently stored on said computer." He even provided an affidavit from a techie signed on December 31, 2010 stating such was the case. Mr. Leonard asked for an extension to January 25, 2011.

April 15 rolled around and there was still no accounting by Mr. Leonard of the money deposited in his trust account. Mr. Downing filed a petition for an emergency hearing and temporary restraining order on April 15, 2011 (page 14 of the linked file). Mr. Downing argued the money was "in jeapordy of being stolen" after he learned of Mr. Leonard's conviction for embezzlement in the Shirley Douglas bankruptcy case and the lawsuit accusing him of embezzling proceeds from a life insurance policey meant for a widow in Madison County (I can't imagine how they found out about any of these events.). Mr. Downing asked for an immediate accounting, a return of all monies by Mr. Leonard, and a freezing of the estate's assets.

Mr. Leonard was notified of the hearing by telephone, fax, and email. The court granted the request on April 15 and froze all trust/escrow accounts of Mr. Leonard. Mr. Downing then filed a motion for contempt against Mr. Leonard on April 21. The motion accused Mr. Leonard of failing to comply with the order and that at a hearing on April 18 removing him as counsel for the executrix, he "would not provide any information regarding the subject funds or his trust account." The executrix also stated Mr. Leonard had not returned to her any documents about the estate. Mr. Downing asked the court to imprison Mr. Leonard and freeze his assets.

The court found Mr. Leonard in contempt of court and ordered his immediate incarceration in the Rankin County jail. The court decreed he will not be released until he pays the $111,925 to the court, provides all documents provided to him by the estate, and pays Mr. Downing $1,500 for attorney's fees. The court also froze all of his assets. This correspondent confirmed yesterday afternoon in a visit to the jail Mr. Leonard is still imprisoned."

Mr. Leonard was convicted of one count of embezzlement in federal court earlier this year after he absconded with $327,000 of a client's settlement that was supposed to be deposited with the bankruptcy court. It will not surprise this correspondent if more indictments are forthcoming. The Mississippi Bar has revoked his license to practice law and seized his files.

The Northside Sun reported Roger Davis was arrested at a precinct he supervised after Supervisor and former opponent Robert Graham showed up accompanied by a Hinds County Deputy:

"A poll worker ended up in a squad car after trying to enforce election laws and keep Hinds County District One Supervisor Robert Graham from influencing voters at a North Jackson polling place.

Roger Davis, co-manager of precincts 80A and 80B at the Tougaloo Community Center, called the Hinds County Sheriff’s Department on the afternoon of November 8, after Graham and one of his associates initially refused to stop campaigning there.

In fact, Graham and a man who was referred to as Sturgis, threatened Davis with bodily harm for attempting to uphold state law, according to Davis. The Sun has been unable to find out Sturgis’ first name.

“Sturgis flipped me off and said, ‘(Expletive) you, honky,” Davis said. “(Graham) told me ‘I’ll kick your a--.’ ”

But when the deputy, Cpt. Nate Ross, arrived on the scene, Davis, not Graham, was arrested." Rest of the story

I can attest Mr. Davis sent me a text message that night stating Mr. Graham told him he would kick his ass and he was arrested. Nice. I wonder how much of a bad-ass Mr. Graham is without his goon standing next to him. If Mr. Davis has witnesses, he should file charges against the deputy if any apply. Seems there might be a Section 1983 action available as well although you lawyers can correct me if I'm wrong.

This flyer about Marshand Crisler was sent via snail mail to Democrat Mayors around the state recently.