Saturday, August 31, 2013 11:15:53 PM
Mississippi Sheriff Indicted on 31 Charges
Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd mugshot
[ http://www.sunherald.com/2013/08/30/4914271/mike-byrd-mugshot-released.html ]
By HOLBROOK MOHR
JACKSON, Miss. August 30, 2013
A south Mississippi sheriff has been indicted on 31 counts, including charges accusing him of pushing an arrest in a murder case, even though a detective thought the suspect was innocent, and of snooping on employees at a restaurant that refused to accept a check from him.
The indictment against longtime Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd was dated Thursday and made public Friday. It charges him with using his office to retaliate against people he considered political and personal foes, including the police chief and a city alderman in Ocean Springs, one of the cities in Jackson County. The charges include fraud, extortion, embezzlement, witness tampering and perjury.
One of the charges said Byrd pressured a detective to sign a criminal affidavit and seek an arrest warrant against a man in a murder investigation in 2007 when the detective did not believe the man committed the crime. The indictment said Byrd was running for re-election at the time and wanted to be able to say there were no unsolved murders in the coastal Mississippi county of about 140,000 people.
An extortion charge in the indictment said Byrd pressured a female deputy to engage in sexual acts and threatened to give her a bad recommendation if she left his department.
Byrd's lawyer, Joe Sam Owen, did not immediately respond to a message left Friday at his office. A message left for the sheriff's chief deputy was not immediately returned.
District Attorney Tony Lawrence said in a written statement that Mississippi law prevents him from discussing the details of the case.
Several south Mississippi news organizations said Byrd turned himself in Thursday and was released on bond.
Byrd is a Republican in his fourth term.
Another of the charges said Byrd ordered the surveillance of Ocean Springs Police Chief Keith Davis in retaliation for Davis "embarrassing" Byrd by disclosing a July 2012 shooting involving narcotics task force agents. The shooting involved two agents, with one accused of shooting toward the feet of another in the task force headquarters. Byrd also is charged with hindering prosecution by ordering that evidence in the case be concealed.
Another count in the 15-page indictment said Byrd sent narcotics agents to perform surveillance on employees of a Mexican restaurant because the eatery had refused to accept a check from him. He's also accused of sending officers to watch a man who objected to the location of a hotel in Ocean Springs and using the power of his office in refusing to pay for repairs to his lawn mower.
Some of the counts are related to testimony in a case involving former Ocean Springs Alderman James Hagan, who was charged with child exploitation related to an alleged image on his city laptop. The district attorney's office later declined to prosecute the case.
Some of the fraud charges are related to the money it cost for the agents to conduct what the grand jury considered illegitimate surveillance ordered by Byrd.
Embezzlement charges accuse him of sending department employees to solicit money for at work at events like bass tournaments and paying them with Jackson County funds.
The Mississippi Supreme Court appointed Judge William F. Coleman, a retired Hinds County Circuit Judge, to preside over the case because the Jackson County judges recused themselves.
© 2013 Associated Press
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/mississippi-sheriff-indicted-31-charges-20122250 [with comments]
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Byrd's $31K bond set and charges outlined, not expected to leave office
Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd is driven away from the Ocean Springs Police Department after being served with a 31-count indictment on Friday Aug. 30, 2013.
JOHN FITZHUGH — SUN HERALD
By KAREN NELSON and ANITA LEE
Published: August 30, 2013
OCEAN SPRINGS -- Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd left the Ocean Springs Police Department at 2:30 p.m. in a black Mercedes, driven by one of his attorneys. Attorney Ben Galloway pulled into a police parking garage and police closed the door, so Byrd would be able to leave without walking past the media.
A special judge set his bond at $31,000, $1,000 on each count and he will be released soon.
Jackson County judges are expected to recuse themselves from the case.
Byrd entered the Ocean Springs Police Department around 1 p.m., right behind chiefs from all the city Police Departments in the county.
He went in behind locked doors with his Gulfport attorneys Joe Sam Owen and Ben Galloway.
Byrd was wearing civilian clothes, not his police uniform. A parade of media followed him.
At around to 1:20 p.m. all the police chiefs left and 30 minutes later released a press packet with the charges and a statement from District Attorney Tony Lawrence, who had presented the case to the grand jury.
Pascagoula Police Chief Kenny Johnson told the Sun Herald that the city police chiefs all came to Ocean Springs, so that one police jurisdiction would not have to handle Byrd's arrest.
"We decided to do it together so no one would have to shoulder the burden alone," Johnson said.
In his statement, Lawrence reminded the public that an indictment is a charge and that Byrd is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Jackson County Circuit Clerk Joe Martin said, earlier in the day, there is no mechanism for removing a public official who is indicted from office.
"Until you plead guilty or are found guilty, you are innocent," Martin said.
If Byrd were to leave office, it would fall to the Jackson County Board of Supervisors to appoint a replacement.
Board President Mike Mangum, at noon today, said Byrd has not indicated to county officials that he would leave office.
"He runs his office the way he wants to," Mangum said. "So it's business as usual."
Byrd's attorney, Owen, confirmed this morning that Byrd had no plans to resign.
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Related
Multi-Count Indictment of James Michael Byrd, a/k/a Mike Byrd
http://media.sunherald.com/smedia/2013/08/30/11/54/1rmjNz.So.77.pdf
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Copyright 2013 The Sun Herald
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/08/30/4913721/jackson-county-sheriff-mike-byrd.html [with comments]
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Sheriff's tenure in office has not been without controversy
AMANDA MCCOY — Sun Herald
[ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zeza0blftMk (as embedded)]
By MARGARET BAKER
Published: August 30, 2013 - Updated: August 31, 2013
JACKSON COUNTY -- Mike Byrd's tenure as Jackson County's sheriff has been filled with contention and discord.
Byrd, who's been in office for 13 years, has come under fire for misusing his official powers.
He's been accused of assault on a handcuffed prisoner and of targeting people for arrest for personal or political gain.
His department is facing a series of multimillion-dollar lawsuits.
Here's a look at some of the headlines Byrd has made in recent years.
Task force shooting
In July 2012, Byrd came under scrutiny after a shooting went unreported at the office of the Narcotics Task Force of Jackson County.
The task force consisted of Jackson County deputies and police officers from Ocean Springs, Gautier, Moss Point and Pascagoula.
Moss Point Police Chief Keith Davis later learned of the shooting through sources other than Byrd's office and called for an independent investigation. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation conducted the probe.
Even as word of the shooting spread, Byrd offered no details, saying only that it was accidental.
The Sun Herald independently obtained the reports about the shooting after Byrd denied the newspaper's request to see them.
According to the reports, the shooting occurred July 31, 2012. Then-Cmdr. Jackie Trussell had shot at the feet of another agent, also a deputy assigned to the task force, and injured him. But no paramedics were called. Instead, Trussell phoned another officer, then-Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics agent Todd McGehee, to bring a first aid kit to the office. Trussell and Shawn Kimmerly, another deputy on the task force, stitched up the wound.
As a result of the shooting, Ocean Springs, Gautier, Moss Point and Pascagoula severed ties with the task force. Gautier, Moss Point and Pascagoula later formed their own drug task force.
Child pornography
The Sheriff's Office experienced problems after more and more of its child pornography suspects started being absolved of charges when grand juries found insufficient evidence to indict them.
Suspects in the state are prosecuted on a charge of child exploitation.
In 2008, sheriff's investigators arrested one person on a child exploitation charge; in 2009, they arrested three. In 2010, the state Attorney General's Office announced the formation of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, comprising 61 regional task forces nationwide. Soon, Byrd announced investigator Hope Thornton was assigned to investigate such cases. She was joined by former investigator Linda Jones, and arrests started to soar.
By the end of 2010, Byrd was touting the success of the investigations, with 23 arrests made that year. In 2011, it was 19, and at least seven in 2012.
The Sun Herald reviewed grand jury reports over 2½ years and learned 18 of those cases had been dismissed for lack of evidence.
District Attorney Tony Lawrence gave examples of problems with the cases:
- Forensic examinations failed to show child porn on the computers.
- There was no proof the images were of people under age 18.
- The conduct in the material was not sexually explicit.
- Multiple users were accessing a device without proof of who "actually and willfully" possessed the images.
- Damaged evidence could not be examined by a forensic examiner to confirm the presence of child porn.
'Acute Political Emergency'
Among those arrested in 2011 on a child porn possession charge, as well as charges of embezzlement and molestation, was then-Ocean Springs Alderman James Hagan. Those charges were among the cases were dropped for lack of evidence.
But Hagan filed a federal lawsuit seeking $30 million in damages against the county, the Sheriff's Office, Byrd, investigators Thornton, Jones, Eddie Clark and Chad Heck, and the county's insurance carrier.
Hagan accuses Byrd, Thornton, Jones, Clark and Heck, along with the others, of violating Hagan's civil and constitutional rights, inducing others to give false testimony, engaging in perjury, false imprisonment, defamation, witness tampering, gross negligence and falsifying search warrant and affidavits filed in his case.
Hagan, who supported one of Byrd's opponents in the last election, has said the Sheriff's Office targeted him and others for arrest, including Ocean Springs Alderman Matt McDonnell. McDonnell was never arrested.
Hagan's lawsuit says Byrd had such a habit of going after his enemies that his employees had an acronym for such investigations -- APE, short for Acute Political Emergency.
Alleged assault on prisoner
In 2012, Byrd failed to disclose information about the theft of a patrol car, though his deputies took the suspect, John Mark Stahl, into custody in Mobile County, Ala.
The Sun Herald has interviewed Stahl, who said Byrd twice kicked him in the groin and a deputy put "a boot in his face" and "stomped (him) on the head" when he was arrested in June 2012 for stealing a deputy's patrol car.
Stahl said FBI agents have questioned him in the Rankin County jail about what happened.
Stahl said he was handcuffed, standing and facing a patrol car when Byrd showed up. Stahl said Byrd told him he had embarrassed Byrd and his deputies. Byrd kicked him in the groin, he said, then backed up a little and kicked him again.
Benefit bank account
In February, the Sun Herald made a request to inspect and copy the financial records of the Jackson County Sheriff's Benefit Bank Account. Byrd initially denied the newspaper access, saying it was a nonprofit account. The Sun Herald learned from the Secretary of State's Office and the Internal Revenue Service the account is not registered as a nonprofit. Instead, it is registered under the county's tax identification number.
In July, Byrd decided to turn over the account records after the Sun Herald submitted a second public information request.
The records showed the account has been used over the years to pay thousands of dollars for flowers for funerals and memorial services; to fund Sheriff's Office Christmas parties; to pay for cakes and gifts for baby showers, birthdays and retirement celebrations; and to buy thousands of plaques for deputies.
The fund also paid $97 the county's finance department wouldn't pay for six Long Island iced teas, a glass of Beringer wine, 12 shots of Burnett's Vanilla Vodka, two Crown Royals and a cognac at the Preservation Grill for a sequestered jury. A deputy said he was responsible for the bill because he'd forgotten to tell jurors they had to pay for their own drinks. He said he didn't have the money to cover the cost.
The account also paid to cremate a German shepherd deputies had shot and killed when they went to the wrong home to arrest a capital murder suspect, and for a dog to "replace dog shot per SO-1." SO-1 is the sheriff.
Other lawsuits
- Former Pascagoula heart surgeon David Bruce Allen was arrested in 2009, accused of growing marijuana on his 50-acre farm on Mississippi 613 in the Escatawpa community known as the Blue Hole. Allen went to trial, but the jury was unable to reach a verdict. All charges against Allen were eventually dropped.
When District Attorney Tony Lawrence announced he was dropping the charges, he said, in part, "the state of Mississippi … does not feel there would be evidence beyond a reasonable doubt to convict … (Allen) … in light of the facts that there was no actual grown marijuana found on the property …."
Allen filed a federal lawsuit, saying narcotics agents "burned property in the front yard in a bonfire fashion, acted like hooligans yelling and screaming about this was going to be their property, how this would be their vacation resort and shooting range, campground, fishing place, scuba training facility, etc, (and) played pool and ping pong on their tables."
Jackson County, Byrd and agents from the narcotics task force have denied allegations of wrongdoing outlined in the suit. "The defendants deny their participation in any wrongdoing at (Allen's farm) or at any other location," according to a motion filed by attorney Jackye C. Bertucci on behalf of the county, Byrd and the task force.
- Coast neurologist Matthew Wallack is seeking $25 million in a federal lawsuit against the county, Byrd, the narcotics task force, former NTF commander Lt. Curtis Spiers and others, including Biloxi police, alleging Wallack's civil, constitutional and human rights were violated. Biloxi police arrested Wallack on a charge of possession of a prescription painkiller, though the charge was dropped after a key witness died. Shortly after the arrest, Jackson County narcotics agents searched Wallack's Ocean Springs office, seizing medication Spiers said Wallack had prescribed to other people. Byrd and Spiers said Wallack had been under investigation for years for prescription-drug complaints, some involving patients who died under his care. Wallack, however, was never arrested on any charge in Jackson County.
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Related
Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd's time in office
August 30, 2013
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/08/30/4914666/jackson-county-sheriff-mike-byrds.html
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Copyright 2013 The Sun Herald
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/08/30/4914665/sheriffs-tenure-in-office-has.html [with comments]
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Mississippi indictment highlights pitfalls of power for sheriffs
Jackson County, Miss., Sheriff Mike Byrd, right, walks to the Ocean Springs, Miss., Police Department with his attorneys on Friday. Byrd turned himself in to be served with a 31-count indictment including charges of embezzlement, fraud, hindering prosecution, tampering with a witness, and perjury.
John Fitzhugh/Sun Herald/AP
The indictment on of a sheriff in Mississippi highlights a long-simmering debate about how long the arm of the law really is. Some sheriffs think they have more authority than the president.
By Patrik Jonsson, Staff writer / August 31, 2013
ATLANTA
Many American lawmen believe, in part because of the way the Constitution is written, that there is no higher power than the office of the sheriff, with even the President of the United States being penultimate to the badge. Miss. Sheriff Mike Byrd, however, may have forgotten the flip side of that power – that the sheriff is expected to be a “minister of God for good," as the National Sheriffs' Association [ http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/National+Sheriffs'+Association ] describes the obligation.
A state indictment against the four-term Jackson County, Miss., sheriff claims Mr. Byrd used the power of his office in unseemly and illegal ways, including refusing to pay for lawnmower repair, ordering a detective to file murder charges against a seemingly innocent man for political purposes, and sending deputies to stake out a Mexican restaurant that refused to take one of Byrd’s checks.
Mr. Byrd, a Republican, was released on bond, but he has not yet entered a plea as to his innocence or guilt. He joins dozens of sheriffs from New Mexico to Georgia who have faced indictments for malfeasance while in office over the last decade for everything from destroying incriminating court documents to murder.
Many of the slights included in Byrd’s indictment that came down Friday may be criminal, but also somewhat mundane. But they actually play into a long-simmering debate in the US about the how long the long arm of the law really is when it comes to sheriffs.
That debate has intensified recently as hundreds of US sheriffs have publicly said they’ll subvert, even physically resist, federal gun control laws, and that they’ll turn their deputies on federal agents if they come to take anybody’s guns.
Far from Washington, sheriffs control vast tracts of US territory in places like northern New York, southern New Mexico, and Utah.
There are 3,083 elected sheriffs in the US, unique holdovers of the British system that dates back to the 9th century – the Sheriff of Nottingham – that have always wielded vast powers over the vassals.
“In many areas … sheriffs are the most powerful political force that people have to deal with," Stephen Bright, the director of the Southern Center for Human Rights, in Atlanta, once told the Monitor. "You have people who become local J. Edgar Hoover types, who have a little bit on everybody."
As the sole elected peace officers in America, sheriffs wield power on their own terms, managing small platoons of deputies, holding sway over county jails, and operating largely on independent budgets.
More critically today, sheriffs have resurrected the specter of the posse comitatus movement of the 1970s, which suggests that the federal government is legally impotent.
Remarking on "worrisome times," Sheriff Stacy Nicholson of Georgia's Gilmer County wrote on Facebook earlier this year that "I, along with a large number (which is growing daily) of Sheriffs across the state of Georgia as well as the entire United States, have no intention of following any orders of the federal government to perform any act which would be considered to be unlawful or a VIOLATION OF ANY PART OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OR THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA, nor will we permit it to be done if within our power to prevent it."
Today’s sheriffs at least suggest that Washington politicians are more their enemies than friends.
“We’re very frustrated with politicians who present to all of us that they’re smarter than the Founders, and I guarantee you there’s not one politician for whom that actually holds true,” says Richard Mack, the former sheriff of Graham County and founder of Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association.
The sheriff first emerged in 9th century England, making the office “the oldest continuing, non-military, law enforcement entity in history,” according to the National Sheriffs Association. They began as shire guardians called reeves, then became royal appointees as the term shire-reeves morphed into sheriff. Sheriffs historically kept the peace and served writs, which remain the cornerstones of the sheriff’s duties today in the US.
But while the English sheriff eventually became ceremonial, the office retained its power in America, in part because the idea of the sheriff became associated with pure democracy, with the sheriff having no other bosses than the voters, which made him personally responsible to folks in his county.
But from the rise of the sheriff especially in the American West, the office has had corruption problems, according to Sheriff Roger Scott of DeKalb County, Illinois. “A few [sheriffs] did not live up to the standards of the badge,” he writes, and some “were indicted for abuse of power, drunkenness and/or corruption.” In 1864, Sheriff Henry Plummer of Bannock, Mont., was hung by his own constituents because he allegedly commanded a “gang of robbers” as he meted out justice, Mr. Scott points out.
Over his four terms, Sheriff Byrd has certainly made his mark on Jackson County. The Mississippi Supreme Court last week quickly moved to bring a state judge out of retirement to hear the case, after all the judges in Jackson County recused themselves.
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Related stories
In rural America, some sheriffs vow to defy Obama on gun control
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2013/0117/In-rural-America-some-sheriffs-vow-to-defy-Obama-on-gun-control
Steven Seagal joins school guard posse: Do we need more action heroes in schools?
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2013/0210/Steven-Seagal-joins-school-guard-posse-Do-we-need-more-action-heroes-in-schools
Court smacks down Joe Arpaio: Turning point for 'America's toughest sheriff?' (+video)
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2013/0525/Court-smacks-down-Joe-Arpaio-Turning-point-for-America-s-toughest-sheriff-video
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© The Christian Science Monitor
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2013/0831/Mississippi-indictment-highlights-pitfalls-of-power-for-sheriffs [with embedded video report]
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Disciplinary hearing postponed for foul-mouthed, machine gun-toting Pa. police chief
In an Aug. 6, 2013 photo, Gilberton Police Chief Mark Kessler speaks during a news conference at Nahas’ office in Frackville, Pa. Kessler says he expects to be fired for posting incendiary videos in which he rants obscenely about the Second Amendment and liberals while spraying machine-gun fire with borough-owned weapons.
Republican-Herald, Jacqueline Dormer/Associated Press
Published: August 30, 2013
GILBERTON, Pa. — A northeastern Pennsylvania police chief suspended for posting videos in which he fired borough-owned automatic weapons while shouting obscenities will wait a little longer to learn his fate.
Chief Mark Kessler’s disciplinary hearing had been planned for Friday, but was postponed because of a scheduling conflict, said his attorney, Joseph Nahas. He said it will most likely be held next week.
Nahas and Kessler himself have both said they expect the chief to be fired.
Kessler’s pro-gun videos have garnered hundreds of thousands of views online. They show him shouting about the Second Amendment and liberals while spraying machine-gun fire.
Kessler acknowledges the videos are incendiary but says they are designed to draw attention to what he views as the erosion of Second Amendment and other constitutional rights.
Friday was supposed to be the last day of Kessler’s 30-day suspension over what the Gilberton council has said was unauthorized use of the weapons. Nahas said Kessler has agreed that his suspension will be extended.
Civil servants facing termination are entitled to a due-process hearing at which they are permitted to respond to the accusations against them.
Gilberton borough council had been scheduled to meet Friday night, and a decision on the chief’s fate had been widely expected. Because Kessler’s hearing was postponed, that decision will have to wait.
“The meeting is going to take place, but because there was no meeting this morning, there are going to be different items on the agenda,” John Dean, an attorney for the borough, said Friday afternoon.
© 2013 Associated Press
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/foul-mouthed-pa-police-chief-could-learn-fate-friday-night/2013/08/30/0f5164f2-113e-11e3-a2b3-5e107edf9897_story.html [with comments]
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Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd mugshot
[ http://www.sunherald.com/2013/08/30/4914271/mike-byrd-mugshot-released.html ]
By HOLBROOK MOHR
JACKSON, Miss. August 30, 2013
A south Mississippi sheriff has been indicted on 31 counts, including charges accusing him of pushing an arrest in a murder case, even though a detective thought the suspect was innocent, and of snooping on employees at a restaurant that refused to accept a check from him.
The indictment against longtime Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd was dated Thursday and made public Friday. It charges him with using his office to retaliate against people he considered political and personal foes, including the police chief and a city alderman in Ocean Springs, one of the cities in Jackson County. The charges include fraud, extortion, embezzlement, witness tampering and perjury.
One of the charges said Byrd pressured a detective to sign a criminal affidavit and seek an arrest warrant against a man in a murder investigation in 2007 when the detective did not believe the man committed the crime. The indictment said Byrd was running for re-election at the time and wanted to be able to say there were no unsolved murders in the coastal Mississippi county of about 140,000 people.
An extortion charge in the indictment said Byrd pressured a female deputy to engage in sexual acts and threatened to give her a bad recommendation if she left his department.
Byrd's lawyer, Joe Sam Owen, did not immediately respond to a message left Friday at his office. A message left for the sheriff's chief deputy was not immediately returned.
District Attorney Tony Lawrence said in a written statement that Mississippi law prevents him from discussing the details of the case.
Several south Mississippi news organizations said Byrd turned himself in Thursday and was released on bond.
Byrd is a Republican in his fourth term.
Another of the charges said Byrd ordered the surveillance of Ocean Springs Police Chief Keith Davis in retaliation for Davis "embarrassing" Byrd by disclosing a July 2012 shooting involving narcotics task force agents. The shooting involved two agents, with one accused of shooting toward the feet of another in the task force headquarters. Byrd also is charged with hindering prosecution by ordering that evidence in the case be concealed.
Another count in the 15-page indictment said Byrd sent narcotics agents to perform surveillance on employees of a Mexican restaurant because the eatery had refused to accept a check from him. He's also accused of sending officers to watch a man who objected to the location of a hotel in Ocean Springs and using the power of his office in refusing to pay for repairs to his lawn mower.
Some of the counts are related to testimony in a case involving former Ocean Springs Alderman James Hagan, who was charged with child exploitation related to an alleged image on his city laptop. The district attorney's office later declined to prosecute the case.
Some of the fraud charges are related to the money it cost for the agents to conduct what the grand jury considered illegitimate surveillance ordered by Byrd.
Embezzlement charges accuse him of sending department employees to solicit money for at work at events like bass tournaments and paying them with Jackson County funds.
The Mississippi Supreme Court appointed Judge William F. Coleman, a retired Hinds County Circuit Judge, to preside over the case because the Jackson County judges recused themselves.
© 2013 Associated Press
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/mississippi-sheriff-indicted-31-charges-20122250 [with comments]
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Byrd's $31K bond set and charges outlined, not expected to leave office
Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd is driven away from the Ocean Springs Police Department after being served with a 31-count indictment on Friday Aug. 30, 2013.
JOHN FITZHUGH — SUN HERALD
By KAREN NELSON and ANITA LEE
Published: August 30, 2013
OCEAN SPRINGS -- Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd left the Ocean Springs Police Department at 2:30 p.m. in a black Mercedes, driven by one of his attorneys. Attorney Ben Galloway pulled into a police parking garage and police closed the door, so Byrd would be able to leave without walking past the media.
A special judge set his bond at $31,000, $1,000 on each count and he will be released soon.
Jackson County judges are expected to recuse themselves from the case.
Byrd entered the Ocean Springs Police Department around 1 p.m., right behind chiefs from all the city Police Departments in the county.
He went in behind locked doors with his Gulfport attorneys Joe Sam Owen and Ben Galloway.
Byrd was wearing civilian clothes, not his police uniform. A parade of media followed him.
At around to 1:20 p.m. all the police chiefs left and 30 minutes later released a press packet with the charges and a statement from District Attorney Tony Lawrence, who had presented the case to the grand jury.
Pascagoula Police Chief Kenny Johnson told the Sun Herald that the city police chiefs all came to Ocean Springs, so that one police jurisdiction would not have to handle Byrd's arrest.
"We decided to do it together so no one would have to shoulder the burden alone," Johnson said.
In his statement, Lawrence reminded the public that an indictment is a charge and that Byrd is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Jackson County Circuit Clerk Joe Martin said, earlier in the day, there is no mechanism for removing a public official who is indicted from office.
"Until you plead guilty or are found guilty, you are innocent," Martin said.
If Byrd were to leave office, it would fall to the Jackson County Board of Supervisors to appoint a replacement.
Board President Mike Mangum, at noon today, said Byrd has not indicated to county officials that he would leave office.
"He runs his office the way he wants to," Mangum said. "So it's business as usual."
Byrd's attorney, Owen, confirmed this morning that Byrd had no plans to resign.
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Related
Multi-Count Indictment of James Michael Byrd, a/k/a Mike Byrd
http://media.sunherald.com/smedia/2013/08/30/11/54/1rmjNz.So.77.pdf
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Copyright 2013 The Sun Herald
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/08/30/4913721/jackson-county-sheriff-mike-byrd.html [with comments]
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Sheriff's tenure in office has not been without controversy
Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd turned himself in at the Ocean Springs Police Department on Friday, August 30, 2013. Byrd was indicted on 31 criminal charges.
AMANDA MCCOY — Sun Herald
[ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zeza0blftMk (as embedded)]
By MARGARET BAKER
Published: August 30, 2013 - Updated: August 31, 2013
JACKSON COUNTY -- Mike Byrd's tenure as Jackson County's sheriff has been filled with contention and discord.
Byrd, who's been in office for 13 years, has come under fire for misusing his official powers.
He's been accused of assault on a handcuffed prisoner and of targeting people for arrest for personal or political gain.
His department is facing a series of multimillion-dollar lawsuits.
Here's a look at some of the headlines Byrd has made in recent years.
Task force shooting
In July 2012, Byrd came under scrutiny after a shooting went unreported at the office of the Narcotics Task Force of Jackson County.
The task force consisted of Jackson County deputies and police officers from Ocean Springs, Gautier, Moss Point and Pascagoula.
Moss Point Police Chief Keith Davis later learned of the shooting through sources other than Byrd's office and called for an independent investigation. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation conducted the probe.
Even as word of the shooting spread, Byrd offered no details, saying only that it was accidental.
The Sun Herald independently obtained the reports about the shooting after Byrd denied the newspaper's request to see them.
According to the reports, the shooting occurred July 31, 2012. Then-Cmdr. Jackie Trussell had shot at the feet of another agent, also a deputy assigned to the task force, and injured him. But no paramedics were called. Instead, Trussell phoned another officer, then-Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics agent Todd McGehee, to bring a first aid kit to the office. Trussell and Shawn Kimmerly, another deputy on the task force, stitched up the wound.
As a result of the shooting, Ocean Springs, Gautier, Moss Point and Pascagoula severed ties with the task force. Gautier, Moss Point and Pascagoula later formed their own drug task force.
Child pornography
The Sheriff's Office experienced problems after more and more of its child pornography suspects started being absolved of charges when grand juries found insufficient evidence to indict them.
Suspects in the state are prosecuted on a charge of child exploitation.
In 2008, sheriff's investigators arrested one person on a child exploitation charge; in 2009, they arrested three. In 2010, the state Attorney General's Office announced the formation of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, comprising 61 regional task forces nationwide. Soon, Byrd announced investigator Hope Thornton was assigned to investigate such cases. She was joined by former investigator Linda Jones, and arrests started to soar.
By the end of 2010, Byrd was touting the success of the investigations, with 23 arrests made that year. In 2011, it was 19, and at least seven in 2012.
The Sun Herald reviewed grand jury reports over 2½ years and learned 18 of those cases had been dismissed for lack of evidence.
District Attorney Tony Lawrence gave examples of problems with the cases:
- Forensic examinations failed to show child porn on the computers.
- There was no proof the images were of people under age 18.
- The conduct in the material was not sexually explicit.
- Multiple users were accessing a device without proof of who "actually and willfully" possessed the images.
- Damaged evidence could not be examined by a forensic examiner to confirm the presence of child porn.
'Acute Political Emergency'
Among those arrested in 2011 on a child porn possession charge, as well as charges of embezzlement and molestation, was then-Ocean Springs Alderman James Hagan. Those charges were among the cases were dropped for lack of evidence.
But Hagan filed a federal lawsuit seeking $30 million in damages against the county, the Sheriff's Office, Byrd, investigators Thornton, Jones, Eddie Clark and Chad Heck, and the county's insurance carrier.
Hagan accuses Byrd, Thornton, Jones, Clark and Heck, along with the others, of violating Hagan's civil and constitutional rights, inducing others to give false testimony, engaging in perjury, false imprisonment, defamation, witness tampering, gross negligence and falsifying search warrant and affidavits filed in his case.
Hagan, who supported one of Byrd's opponents in the last election, has said the Sheriff's Office targeted him and others for arrest, including Ocean Springs Alderman Matt McDonnell. McDonnell was never arrested.
Hagan's lawsuit says Byrd had such a habit of going after his enemies that his employees had an acronym for such investigations -- APE, short for Acute Political Emergency.
Alleged assault on prisoner
In 2012, Byrd failed to disclose information about the theft of a patrol car, though his deputies took the suspect, John Mark Stahl, into custody in Mobile County, Ala.
The Sun Herald has interviewed Stahl, who said Byrd twice kicked him in the groin and a deputy put "a boot in his face" and "stomped (him) on the head" when he was arrested in June 2012 for stealing a deputy's patrol car.
Stahl said FBI agents have questioned him in the Rankin County jail about what happened.
Stahl said he was handcuffed, standing and facing a patrol car when Byrd showed up. Stahl said Byrd told him he had embarrassed Byrd and his deputies. Byrd kicked him in the groin, he said, then backed up a little and kicked him again.
Benefit bank account
In February, the Sun Herald made a request to inspect and copy the financial records of the Jackson County Sheriff's Benefit Bank Account. Byrd initially denied the newspaper access, saying it was a nonprofit account. The Sun Herald learned from the Secretary of State's Office and the Internal Revenue Service the account is not registered as a nonprofit. Instead, it is registered under the county's tax identification number.
In July, Byrd decided to turn over the account records after the Sun Herald submitted a second public information request.
The records showed the account has been used over the years to pay thousands of dollars for flowers for funerals and memorial services; to fund Sheriff's Office Christmas parties; to pay for cakes and gifts for baby showers, birthdays and retirement celebrations; and to buy thousands of plaques for deputies.
The fund also paid $97 the county's finance department wouldn't pay for six Long Island iced teas, a glass of Beringer wine, 12 shots of Burnett's Vanilla Vodka, two Crown Royals and a cognac at the Preservation Grill for a sequestered jury. A deputy said he was responsible for the bill because he'd forgotten to tell jurors they had to pay for their own drinks. He said he didn't have the money to cover the cost.
The account also paid to cremate a German shepherd deputies had shot and killed when they went to the wrong home to arrest a capital murder suspect, and for a dog to "replace dog shot per SO-1." SO-1 is the sheriff.
Other lawsuits
- Former Pascagoula heart surgeon David Bruce Allen was arrested in 2009, accused of growing marijuana on his 50-acre farm on Mississippi 613 in the Escatawpa community known as the Blue Hole. Allen went to trial, but the jury was unable to reach a verdict. All charges against Allen were eventually dropped.
When District Attorney Tony Lawrence announced he was dropping the charges, he said, in part, "the state of Mississippi … does not feel there would be evidence beyond a reasonable doubt to convict … (Allen) … in light of the facts that there was no actual grown marijuana found on the property …."
Allen filed a federal lawsuit, saying narcotics agents "burned property in the front yard in a bonfire fashion, acted like hooligans yelling and screaming about this was going to be their property, how this would be their vacation resort and shooting range, campground, fishing place, scuba training facility, etc, (and) played pool and ping pong on their tables."
Jackson County, Byrd and agents from the narcotics task force have denied allegations of wrongdoing outlined in the suit. "The defendants deny their participation in any wrongdoing at (Allen's farm) or at any other location," according to a motion filed by attorney Jackye C. Bertucci on behalf of the county, Byrd and the task force.
- Coast neurologist Matthew Wallack is seeking $25 million in a federal lawsuit against the county, Byrd, the narcotics task force, former NTF commander Lt. Curtis Spiers and others, including Biloxi police, alleging Wallack's civil, constitutional and human rights were violated. Biloxi police arrested Wallack on a charge of possession of a prescription painkiller, though the charge was dropped after a key witness died. Shortly after the arrest, Jackson County narcotics agents searched Wallack's Ocean Springs office, seizing medication Spiers said Wallack had prescribed to other people. Byrd and Spiers said Wallack had been under investigation for years for prescription-drug complaints, some involving patients who died under his care. Wallack, however, was never arrested on any charge in Jackson County.
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Related
Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd's time in office
August 30, 2013
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/08/30/4914666/jackson-county-sheriff-mike-byrds.html
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Copyright 2013 The Sun Herald
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/08/30/4914665/sheriffs-tenure-in-office-has.html [with comments]
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Mississippi indictment highlights pitfalls of power for sheriffs
Jackson County, Miss., Sheriff Mike Byrd, right, walks to the Ocean Springs, Miss., Police Department with his attorneys on Friday. Byrd turned himself in to be served with a 31-count indictment including charges of embezzlement, fraud, hindering prosecution, tampering with a witness, and perjury.
John Fitzhugh/Sun Herald/AP
The indictment on of a sheriff in Mississippi highlights a long-simmering debate about how long the arm of the law really is. Some sheriffs think they have more authority than the president.
By Patrik Jonsson, Staff writer / August 31, 2013
ATLANTA
Many American lawmen believe, in part because of the way the Constitution is written, that there is no higher power than the office of the sheriff, with even the President of the United States being penultimate to the badge. Miss. Sheriff Mike Byrd, however, may have forgotten the flip side of that power – that the sheriff is expected to be a “minister of God for good," as the National Sheriffs' Association [ http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/National+Sheriffs'+Association ] describes the obligation.
A state indictment against the four-term Jackson County, Miss., sheriff claims Mr. Byrd used the power of his office in unseemly and illegal ways, including refusing to pay for lawnmower repair, ordering a detective to file murder charges against a seemingly innocent man for political purposes, and sending deputies to stake out a Mexican restaurant that refused to take one of Byrd’s checks.
Mr. Byrd, a Republican, was released on bond, but he has not yet entered a plea as to his innocence or guilt. He joins dozens of sheriffs from New Mexico to Georgia who have faced indictments for malfeasance while in office over the last decade for everything from destroying incriminating court documents to murder.
Many of the slights included in Byrd’s indictment that came down Friday may be criminal, but also somewhat mundane. But they actually play into a long-simmering debate in the US about the how long the long arm of the law really is when it comes to sheriffs.
That debate has intensified recently as hundreds of US sheriffs have publicly said they’ll subvert, even physically resist, federal gun control laws, and that they’ll turn their deputies on federal agents if they come to take anybody’s guns.
Far from Washington, sheriffs control vast tracts of US territory in places like northern New York, southern New Mexico, and Utah.
There are 3,083 elected sheriffs in the US, unique holdovers of the British system that dates back to the 9th century – the Sheriff of Nottingham – that have always wielded vast powers over the vassals.
“In many areas … sheriffs are the most powerful political force that people have to deal with," Stephen Bright, the director of the Southern Center for Human Rights, in Atlanta, once told the Monitor. "You have people who become local J. Edgar Hoover types, who have a little bit on everybody."
As the sole elected peace officers in America, sheriffs wield power on their own terms, managing small platoons of deputies, holding sway over county jails, and operating largely on independent budgets.
More critically today, sheriffs have resurrected the specter of the posse comitatus movement of the 1970s, which suggests that the federal government is legally impotent.
Remarking on "worrisome times," Sheriff Stacy Nicholson of Georgia's Gilmer County wrote on Facebook earlier this year that "I, along with a large number (which is growing daily) of Sheriffs across the state of Georgia as well as the entire United States, have no intention of following any orders of the federal government to perform any act which would be considered to be unlawful or a VIOLATION OF ANY PART OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OR THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA, nor will we permit it to be done if within our power to prevent it."
Today’s sheriffs at least suggest that Washington politicians are more their enemies than friends.
“We’re very frustrated with politicians who present to all of us that they’re smarter than the Founders, and I guarantee you there’s not one politician for whom that actually holds true,” says Richard Mack, the former sheriff of Graham County and founder of Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association.
The sheriff first emerged in 9th century England, making the office “the oldest continuing, non-military, law enforcement entity in history,” according to the National Sheriffs Association. They began as shire guardians called reeves, then became royal appointees as the term shire-reeves morphed into sheriff. Sheriffs historically kept the peace and served writs, which remain the cornerstones of the sheriff’s duties today in the US.
But while the English sheriff eventually became ceremonial, the office retained its power in America, in part because the idea of the sheriff became associated with pure democracy, with the sheriff having no other bosses than the voters, which made him personally responsible to folks in his county.
But from the rise of the sheriff especially in the American West, the office has had corruption problems, according to Sheriff Roger Scott of DeKalb County, Illinois. “A few [sheriffs] did not live up to the standards of the badge,” he writes, and some “were indicted for abuse of power, drunkenness and/or corruption.” In 1864, Sheriff Henry Plummer of Bannock, Mont., was hung by his own constituents because he allegedly commanded a “gang of robbers” as he meted out justice, Mr. Scott points out.
Over his four terms, Sheriff Byrd has certainly made his mark on Jackson County. The Mississippi Supreme Court last week quickly moved to bring a state judge out of retirement to hear the case, after all the judges in Jackson County recused themselves.
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Related stories
In rural America, some sheriffs vow to defy Obama on gun control
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2013/0117/In-rural-America-some-sheriffs-vow-to-defy-Obama-on-gun-control
Steven Seagal joins school guard posse: Do we need more action heroes in schools?
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2013/0210/Steven-Seagal-joins-school-guard-posse-Do-we-need-more-action-heroes-in-schools
Court smacks down Joe Arpaio: Turning point for 'America's toughest sheriff?' (+video)
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2013/0525/Court-smacks-down-Joe-Arpaio-Turning-point-for-America-s-toughest-sheriff-video
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© The Christian Science Monitor
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2013/0831/Mississippi-indictment-highlights-pitfalls-of-power-for-sheriffs [with embedded video report]
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Disciplinary hearing postponed for foul-mouthed, machine gun-toting Pa. police chief
In an Aug. 6, 2013 photo, Gilberton Police Chief Mark Kessler speaks during a news conference at Nahas’ office in Frackville, Pa. Kessler says he expects to be fired for posting incendiary videos in which he rants obscenely about the Second Amendment and liberals while spraying machine-gun fire with borough-owned weapons.
Republican-Herald, Jacqueline Dormer/Associated Press
Published: August 30, 2013
GILBERTON, Pa. — A northeastern Pennsylvania police chief suspended for posting videos in which he fired borough-owned automatic weapons while shouting obscenities will wait a little longer to learn his fate.
Chief Mark Kessler’s disciplinary hearing had been planned for Friday, but was postponed because of a scheduling conflict, said his attorney, Joseph Nahas. He said it will most likely be held next week.
Nahas and Kessler himself have both said they expect the chief to be fired.
Kessler’s pro-gun videos have garnered hundreds of thousands of views online. They show him shouting about the Second Amendment and liberals while spraying machine-gun fire.
Kessler acknowledges the videos are incendiary but says they are designed to draw attention to what he views as the erosion of Second Amendment and other constitutional rights.
Friday was supposed to be the last day of Kessler’s 30-day suspension over what the Gilberton council has said was unauthorized use of the weapons. Nahas said Kessler has agreed that his suspension will be extended.
Civil servants facing termination are entitled to a due-process hearing at which they are permitted to respond to the accusations against them.
Gilberton borough council had been scheduled to meet Friday night, and a decision on the chief’s fate had been widely expected. Because Kessler’s hearing was postponed, that decision will have to wait.
“The meeting is going to take place, but because there was no meeting this morning, there are going to be different items on the agenda,” John Dean, an attorney for the borough, said Friday afternoon.
© 2013 Associated Press
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/foul-mouthed-pa-police-chief-could-learn-fate-friday-night/2013/08/30/0f5164f2-113e-11e3-a2b3-5e107edf9897_story.html [with comments]
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"Eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty."
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upon the Right of Election, 1790
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