The family of the late Mark Mayfield want a rematch. U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves dismissed their lawsuit against Madison, Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler, and several police officers last month. However, the widow and sons of Mark Mayfield filed a notice of appeal in U.S. District Court Thursday.
JJ reported on May 19:
Mark Mayfield was an accomplice in the infamous nursing home scandal that took place in the Senate race. Madison police arrested him at his office in Flowood on May 22, 2014, on a charge of conspiracy. He died by his own hand on June 27, 2014.
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.
All government officials were sued individually as well. 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. The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves.
The case dragged on as the two sides waged trench warfare, the protracted kind, for years. Judge Reeves dismissed Butler Snow and its associated personnel. The city of Madison and its employees filed a motion for summary judgment.
Judge Reeves ruled Madison police had probable cause to arrest Mark Mayfield* as he dismissed the order.
The plaintiffs noticed the Court that they will appeal the dismissals to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals:
NOTICE is hereby given that Robin Mayfield, Owen Mayfield, William Mayfield, and the Estate of Mark Stevens Mayfield, plaintiffs in the above named case, appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit from orders of the United States District Court, Southern District of Mississippi, Northern Division, granting a motion for summary judgment by Defendant City of Madison, Mississippi, entered in this action on May 19, 2021 (further identified as ECF Doc. #444), granting a motion to dismiss by Defendants Mary Hawkins-Butler and Chuck Harrison, entered in this action on April 30, 2019 (further identified as ECF Doc. # 139), and granting a motion to dismiss by Defendants Gene Waldrop, Richard Wilbourn, III, Butler Snow LLP, and Donald Clark, Jr. on September 18, 2019.
Attorney Dorsey Carson represents the Mayfields.
* Judge Reeves stated in his opinion:
applied here, for present purposes the Mayfields have stated a prima facie case, as they claim that the retaliatory arrest was for Mark Mayfield’s protected speech in being a vocal McDaniel supporter.⁵ Because the prima facie test is not supposed to be overly burdensome, that is enough.
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.
In this case, the framework suggests that we should ask a series of questions. Did the investigation follow the evidence to its targets, or did the police “round up the usual suspects?” Was there anything unusual about the timing or the manner of the City’s investigation?...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....
The Mayfields have also pressed that, in their minds, the City brought a series of cases against McDaniel supporters that lacked probable cause. Those arguments, however, are generally foreclosed by the guilty pleas of two of the conspirators, as well as the fact that it is the law of the case that the City had probable cause to arrest Mayfield.
45 comments:
Mayfield sons are lawyers. The can work on this case forever since they are doing this for free.
Me or you would have our life saving exhausted.
They are not lawyers.
Neither of his sons are lawyers
@10:48am Mayfield’s sons are not lawyers. Might want to do some research before showing your ignorance.
I thought one was in med school but I could be wrong.
look for another dismissal. sorry, he was an accomplice to taking photos of an elderly lady with dementia inside of a nursing home. only one person is responsible for taking his own life as to not live with the shame.
Wingnuts gonna wingnut!
If only he’d done the right thing and reported those who contacted him to gain illegal video/pictures from St. Catherine’s...
What attorney doesn’t KNOW how illegal that is?
He could have been a hero. Or, maybe he could have continued his quiet life by submitting an anonymous tip.
Politics is an ugly thing.
Thank goodness for technology. Back in the day there would have been no “proof.”
Hail Mary!
Everyone is a lawyer on the internet.
One son is a dentist. The other is in real estate.
This situation has some truths upon which all can agree.
The power of Butler Snow is far reaching.
The $250,000 bond was extraordinary.
A goal was to besmirch Chris McDaniel via his supporters, which included Mayfield.
Mayfield’s death was a tragedy.
The questions remain:
Was the enforcement carried out evenly or to evoke shame and embarrassment?
Would McDaniel have won if the event not occurred?
If the mayor and Butler Snow were to replay, what would they do differently?
RMQ
The Mayfield family suffered a terrible loss. But they are prolonging their agony with frivolous litigation. They need to move on with their lives and stop obsessing over what happened. Mayfield had a lapse in judgment for which he chose to pay the ultimate price by taking his own life. Tragic.
Steve Thornton and Dorsey Carson are terrible lawyers. But it's a lame case so it might as well have lame lawyers.
Runoff 2014 was the all-time of all-time high water mark for Republican turnout in Mississippi MAJORITY black precincts. The facts are beyond refute. For a very brief moment in time, good LORD, did black Mississippians love them some Thad.
12:05 is spot on.
LMFTFY @12:05:
This situation has some truths upon which all can agree.
The power of deluded wingnuttery in the service of criminal stupidity and political gamesmanship is far reaching.
The crime was as extraordinary as the $250,000 bond was extraordinary.
A goal was to besmirch Thad Cochrane via his incapacitated wife, using a criminal conspiracy to invade a care facility apparently enabled in no small part by Mayfield.
Mayfield’s death was a tragedy.
The questions remain:
Was the criminal conduct carried out to intimidate or punish Senator Cochrane or to evoke shame and embarrassment?
Would McDaniel have won if the event not occurred?
If the convicted and dead were to replay, what would they do differently?
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes!
Wasn't Steve Thornton sued by his own siblings for plundering the family estate?
The bottom line is there are some in this state that can get away with same or worse antics (and have) and there are the rest of us who can’t. As a result, elections are ceremonial at best, democracy is the myth you realize when you grow up and we all live under the whim of powerful political networks.
Everyone is a lawyer on the internet?? Not me, I would rather be known as a piano player in a whorehouse, than a lawyer.
I really don't understand the big deal. So what? He got caught taking pics of an old lady. Not worth taking your life over.
"The $250,000 bond was extraordinary."
I happen to agree with this. The purpose of bond is to ensure appearance, not to punish or set an example.
The late Dale Danks is who I believe set his bond. Danks was well known for crazy bonds in Madison County. I don't think he set bond unreasonably high in THIS case, because I believe he set bond unreasonably high in nearly every case that came before muni court.
I speculate this is just Dorsey further branding. No money will change hands on tnis endeavor, but Dorsey will stay up on the clicks.....
I was at 1675 Lakenad Drive when Mayfield was arrested. SWAT gear, AR-15s, screaming, cursing and pointing firearks at secretaries. It was absolutely nauseating.
1:40. as someone who has a mother with dementia in a nursing home, the entire plot is absolutely disgusting to me. its much, much more than simply taking photos of an elderly woman
1-someone entered a nursing home and entered a room without consent. (invasion of home.). its like someone entering your house. too bad someone with dementia can't use a gun to defend themselves
2-taking pictures of a nursing home resident without consent. (invasion of privacy) what if someone broke into your house and took your photo while you slept?
3-intending to use the photos for a political reason.
so this bunch conspired to take photos of a vulnerable senior to prove the point that Mr Cochran was unfaithful to his wife, who was basically lying in bed all day and not able to even carry a conversation? and that, somehow, would prove he's unfit for being in the Senate?
we have laws to protect those in society who cannot take care of themselves. when you conspire to break those laws and get caught, there are consequences. he would have been thrown in to prison, and so he did what he did.
i have no sympathy for those who look to exploit vulnerable people for personal gain. i'm sure the family is trying to hold someone else responsible because it's easier to blame than to really think about what would lead someone, to all outward accounts, who seemed to be an honorable citizen to commit such a twisted act.
actions speak louder than words.
The almighty Kingfish posted this remark: "The police were given free rein to conduct their investigation as they saw fit, without direction from the Mayor, a Cochran supporter."
If you believe that, you have less sense than I've always given you credit for. She chooses the cruiser tire sizes, dial tone at the dispatcher's desk, number of handicap spaces at the PoPo building and which new recruit works the crossing at the elementary school.
I've personally sat in meetings in her inner sanctum. When a siren or alarm of any sort is sounded, she picks up the phone, speed dials and immediately says, "Is this anything I need to know about?"
It's like this: We *all* get to cherry pick which laws we follow. What we *don't* get to do is cherry pick which laws we get punished for not having followed.
One might think an accomplished attorney such as Mr Mayfield would have understood that concept.
RMQ again.
That Rose Cochran suffered elder abuse is another fact. But, the point of Mayfields suit is not to justify Mr. Mayfield's actions but to question the Mayor's and Butler Snow's actions.
Though I carry neither the civil libertarian label nor the civil rights activist label, the SWAT team approach of arresting Mayfield signals law enforcement being used for political purposes. In the 1970's conservatives ballyhooed America as not being a police state like Russia. Leading the charge was Cochran's party, the GOP. I was part of the movement and worked for Thad's campaigns. This is not about Thad. This is about the proper use of law and order.
Has the Right forgotten its roots?
RMQ
Goober Notice: NO photos were taken. Zero. Nada. So stop with the nonsense. There may have been a PLAN to take photos, but NONE were taken.
Why he offed himself remains a mystery.
Sheesh. Swat team- I back the blue. Laws aren’t just for people of color!
break them-face the music, dude
this is clearly a lawsuit of denial. sorry, game over, move along, nothing to see
Mayfield did a minor violation of the law. What was done to him was horrific and caused his death.
Mother Inferior: You're a damn liar. Clayton took photos. I saw them and they put them in the video. The security camera video showed him walking up to door, taking a picture of the nameplate, then walking inside. The video he produced, which was pretty bad, showed a picture of her for a brief moment.
One of the dumbest things ever done in politics because it cost McDaniel the race. Without that caper, he wins the primary.
Bless your heart, “Mother Inferior” @3:32, Clayton Kelly pleaded guilty and served prison time for sneaking into the nursing home, snapping a photo of Rose Cochran, and posting it online in a nasty video in a pitiful attempt to smear Thad Cochran and thereby help McDaniel.
It was alleged that Mayfield assisted in this dumb plan by providing info about the layout of the nursing home.
2:57 has summarized this sad, unnecessary mess with great eloquence.
2:57 is spot on as 7:36 says.
Even if the Mayfields were to win this lawsuit, it won't bring him back. Which is really all this exercise is trying to accomplish anyway.
At 2:56PM:
I know the guy personally who managed 1675 Lakeland Dr when Mayfield’s office was there.
They had security cameras on each floor of the Bldg including the 3rd floor where Mayfield’s office was located.
A camera guy came and checked video. It showed NO FORCE used by ANY policeman in the hallway, elevator
or in 1st floor lobby as they left Bldg.
The whole thing was a sordid affair with a grisly end. We, the citizens, are the losers in all of this. How, you say? Decent men, and women, see the cesspool that holds the political world and recoil in horror. Choosing rather to keep their honor, and reputation, intact, than risk it for political office. Therefore, leaving us, the citizens, in dire need of true public servants. If you have doubt of my statements, simply look at the political landscape. If by some chance a naive, and decent, individual should venture into that cesspool their political ambitions would be short-lived, unwilling to do what was needed to win. This being the revealing of another monumental myth, along with Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the check is in the mail, and I'm from the government, and here to help you, is the seldom recognized myth that has been spoken many times. Some of you may have uttered it yourself. What is this myth, why it is the lie that America is the land where anyone can be President. The truth is, there aren't that many willing to be that dirty. The lesser of two evils indeed.
What is your reason for outing Hugh, 8:34? Just so you can be a big shot?
Mayfield or anyone else that has some morals should not have gotten involved in this. All of you naysayers just think if it had been one of your parents laying there. Mayfield took his life because he lost all of his business with Trustmark 2 days later, about 70% of his income. The Madison police have a right to go arrest him and to come to his house after he killed himself while ridgeland was investigating. The Mayfield family needs for someone to give them good advice and close the book on this.
Didn't expect you to allow it through the radar. Typical.
The security camera shows Clayton walking up to the door of the room. He takes a picture of the nameplate, which obviously has Mrs. Cochran's name. The little group produced a video 10 minutes long that showed a picture of her in her bed for a few seconds. I've seen that video and Judge Reeves mentions it in his opinion. That was why McDaniel campaign people made them take it down when they found out about it. The video was online for about an hour and trust me, it was really really bad as in stupid bad.
Never trust person who start or end sentence with 'trust me'.
Politics aside - Whether or not Mr. Mayfield would have gone to prison is unknown. What IS known is that if he had, he would be out and vacationing in Destin this week.
If you are considering such a final solution to a temporary problem, rethink it. Trust me on this one. The family never recovers.
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