In an order filed today, U.S. District Court Judge Dan Jordan has again denied a request for a separate trial for Mayor Frank Melton’s former bodyguard.
Jackson Police Detective Michael Recio, one of two long-time security guards for the mayor, last month renewed his request to be tried separately from the mayor on federal civil rights charges. In a motion’s hearing earlier last month, Jordan had overruled a request for a separate trial.
The two men are scheduled to be tried Jan. 5 on charges they violated the civil rights of the tenant and owner of a Ridgeway Street duplex in a raid on Aug. 26, 2006. Melton is accused of leading a band of sledgehammer-wielding youths on the duplex, which Melton has said was a drug house, while Recio is accused of being part of the conspiracy by protecting the mayor and keeping residents of the neighborhood away.
Magnolia Tribune
