Prompted by motions filed in court this week, Mayor Frank Melton blasted federal authorities for what he said was a failure to assist him in dealing with Jackson’s drug crime problem.
A federal grand jury indicted Melton and his two former police bodyguards in July on charges related to their police-style raid on a Ridgeway Street duplex that Melton has described as a “crack house.” Last year a jury acquitted the men of state charges related to the Aug. 26, 2006, raid after several defense witnesses testified to drug activity at the house.
This week, prosecutors from the U.S. Justice Department filed a motion seeking to prohibit jurors from ever seeing anything about drug use at the house. Justice Department officials would not comment on the case, but the motion says such evidence is irrelevant and is intended to “confuse and mislead the jury” or “convince the jury to ignore the evidence and nullify.”
Magnolia Tribune
