The Battle of Briarwood 1 continues in Hinds County Chancery Court after Chancellor Tamertrice Hodges stopped the demolition of the building or imprisonment of its owner, Mike Kohan, with a restraining order Tuesday. Jackson Municipal Court Judge Jeff Reynolds ordered the New York resident's arrest on February 14.
Kohan owns the building through his company, Briarwood Holding Realty, LLC. To say the building fell into a state of disrepair is an understatement. Fallen limbs blocked the parking lot, numerous windows were busted out, the underground parking garage was flooded, mold was present, and the residency challenged took over the place as they destroyed the property.
Jackson Code Enforcement officers cited Kohan for the violations. Judge Reynolds held a trial in January but the defendant did not appear in court. The Court found him guilty and sentenced Kohan to serve six months in jail if he did not demolish the building or bring it in compliance with the municipal code. Kohan's lawyer, John Martin, filed an emergency motion to vacate the judgement and appealed the conviction to Hinds County Court, arguing his client was never properly served. However, Kohan did not pay the $1 million appeal bond set by Judge Reynolds. Judge Reynolds denied the motion and ruled the appeal was invalid since the defendant did not pay the appeal bond. The Court issued an arrest warrant for Kohan since he did not comply with the Court order regarding the building.
Kohan asked Chancellor Hodges to issue a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction on his arrest. The new Chancellor decreed:
There exists a substantial likelihood that the plaintiff will prevail on the merits, due to the great dispute regarding whether the City actually sent citation, summons or notice to Briarwood and/or the owner of the Property. The injunction is necessary to prevent irreparable harm, as there is the immediate threat of (a) demolition of the Property; and (b) arrest of Kohan, individually, for not demolishing the Property, which greatly outweighs the harm an injunction might do to the defendant. Entry of a preliminary injunction is consistent with the public interest.
Synopsis of case.
Kohan owns the building through his company, Briarwood Holding Realty, LLC. The building was neglected for years and fell into a serious state of disrepair. Jackson Code Enforcement officers found numerous violations and cited Kohan.
Jackson Municipal Court Judge Jeffrey Reynolds held a trial in absentia on January 10 as Kohan failed to appear in court.
The Court found the building suffered from severe sanitation problems, drainage problems, pervasive mold, water "everywhere", and electrical wiring exposed to water. A multitude of residency-challenged individuals inhabited the building, committing more destruction of the property as broken windows and graffiti mushroomed throughout the premises.
Judge Reynolds ruled the building was "dangerous" to the citizens of Jackson and ordered it demolished if it was not brought up to the code to the reasonable satisfaction of the Court. The Court suspended a six-month jail sentence for Mr. New York pending demolition of the building. Judge Reynolds set his appeal bond at $1 million.
Kohan's lawyer, John Martin filed an emergency motion to vacate the January 10 ruling and rescind the arrest warrant. Judge Reynolds held another hearing on February 14. JJ reported that day:
(John Martin) argued neither he nor his client received a copy of the citation or notice of any hearings. The Court did not have jurisdiction over the non-traveling Kohan since he was never properly served.Judge Reynolds said the city prosecutor stated under oath at the trial that she sent Kohan a copy of the notice and citation through certified mail as tell as notifying him over the phone. She said she emailed copies as well at Kohan's direction.Martin argued that even if such correspondence occurred, his client was still not properly served under the rules. He claimed the summons must be personally served upon his client as actual notice does not cure defective process. He also said Kohan is not the owner of the building but instead claimed Briarwood Holding Realty, LLC owns the building and the company was not given notice of the citation.City Prosecutor Jeffrey Graves said notice can be sent through certified mail, as it was in this case. Judge Reynolds said Environmental Court does not serve any defendants through personal service. All citations are delivered via the United States Postal Service. "I don't believe we issue a citation here and Jackson, Mississippi and serve it personally in New York," opined the jurist. Section 3.2 (d) of the Mississippi Rules of Criminal Procedure states:The summons may be served by personally delivering a copy of the summons to the defendant by any officer authorized by law to execute arrest warrants or by delivering a copy of the summons by U.S. mail, addressed to the defendant at the defendant's usual residence, business or post office address.
23 comments:
This entire legal fiasco stems from malpractice on the part of the City Attorney in not obtaining valid service of process before firing his gun.
Think of all the time and money this has cost all involved--for nothing.
Kingfish note: Can a Chancellor issue a TRO on a criminal case?
Methinks not - been practicing law here a long time and never heard of such.
Such a beautiful building. It would seem that it would be cost effective to renovate vs. tearing it down and rebuilding.
The correct question is: "May a chancellor enter an ENFORCEABLE Temporary Restraining Order in a pending criminal case?"
@3:56 people aren't working from offices anymore. People are working from home so there's no need for fancy high-rise office buildings anymore
Building was beautiful, but previous owner was losing money and somehow had a non-recourse loan. Appears he took advantage of that and bailed.
The elevators quit working several years ago while there were still tenants, and after their eventual abandonment, the building was stripped of all electrical wiring - walls, ceilings, everywhere - along with the copper associated with the HVAC. Renovation a few years ago would have been feasible construction wise; question is whether there would have been a market for the space in the Jackson office market at the cost required to renovate and provide daily security.
Graves, the city attorney, can't produce the certified mail receipt.
The story of the Lumumba failure will always be, in part, about an administration that wasn't competent enough to perform even the basics of the job.
When was the last time this Mayor went after something this hard?
He lets everything go to shit but inexplicably gives a crap about this location?
What I want to know is who wants the land but doesn't want to pay for the building?
March 3, 2023 at 4:06 PM "people aren't working from offices anymore. People are working from home so there's no need for fancy high-rise office buildings anymore" -
Well, "Squeezer" honey, I beg to differ! Lots of people commuting to work every day! Hope you're enjoying yourself in your PJs.
Attended one of the debates Hodges participated in when she ran. She was the least knowledgeable of the position of the 3 contenders.
Something smells here. Otherwise every prison in MS would be full of dilapidated property owners just from Jackson.
@4:28 PM and 6:26 PM - Exactly. There is a hidden agenda here, and Chowke'$ fingerprint$ are on it.
There is an appellate process to hear Kohan's grievances. He did not timely appeal, bond or not. The Chancellor has no authority to enjoin a criminal conviction. If that were the case, every single defendant found guilty could run to the Chancellor and cry foul. That's not how it works. Chancery Courts have no jurisdiction in criminal matters. Wanna divorce? Wanna probate a will? Got a land dispute? The Chancery Court is where you go. But not for relief of criminal convictions. The Chancellor overstepped, plain and simple. Kohan's remedies, if any, were from the appellate courts, in this case the County Court first, then up the chain. The only thing accomplished by the Chancellor is injecting confusion into a clear order.
Behold - the new corporate office for Richard's Disposal!
Garbage trucks will be staged in the back.
City court judge got too big for his britches!
Hodges is a moron, so whatever she ordered is most likely incorrect.
Wow, the check didn't bounce.
I'd like to see the resume of each judge involved in this mat....never mind.
Chancellor should be and will be reversed immediately and should be sent to school to learn about jurisdictional issues.
3:43, already did. Want to appeal it?
7:33, agree. Jackson city judges are invincible and infallible. No recourse when you stand before a jackson city judge. Just hope you don’t get a citation next time you trek through Jackson.
No, Chancery court does not have jurisdiction. Miss Code 21-23-7 vest powers to proceed on misdemeanors to Municipal court. Article 6 Section 159 of Mississippi Constitution defines Chancery jurisdiction. Over riding another court court order does not appear int he list. Nor does anything criminal related. And this case https://law.justia.com/cases/mississippi/supreme-court/1979/382-so-2d-284-0.html addresses what happens when a Chancery court oversteps its bounds to interfere with another court order. The real question is whether the City of Jackson has the bandwidth to appeal. If they do, it’s likely a slam dunk. The better remedy would have an immediate petition for interlocutory appeal to Hinds County County court.
@ 12:27, bandwidth and actual skill set are two entirely different things.
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