Federal prosecutors Monday asked U.S. District Court Judge Dan Jordan to place three of their latest motions in Mayor Frank Melton’s civil rights case under seal, two of them in an apparent effort to protect their star witness.
Melton and his two former Jackson Police Department bodyguards Marcus Wright and Michael Recio were charged in a three-count federal indictment with crimes related to an Aug. 28, 2006, warrantless raid on a Ridgeway Street duplex Melton later said was a “crack house.” Wright pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in exchange for his cooperation in prosecuting Melton and Recio.
In an attempt to discredit Wright, defense attorneys for Melton and Recio filed a motion last month seeking JPD Internal Affairs documents involving Wright. The documents involve second-hand accounts of alleged sexual misconduct by Wright made by a jailed male prostitute.
One motion federal prosecutors filed Monday seeks “to preclude any reference to findings of misconduct of police officers by witnesses that do not concern lack of truthfulness.” A second asks Jordan to “exclude reference to allegations of misconduct by Marcus Wright.”
Magnolia Tribune
