Attorneys on both sides of Mayor Frank Melton and ex-bodyguard Michael Recio’s trial will gather this morning to discuss how U.S. District Court Judge Dan Jordan eventually will instruct jurors to deliberate.
Jackson lawyer and former Mayor Dale Danks Jr., who represented Melton in his April 2007 state trial, said getting favorable instructions to that jury was crucial in securing the acquittal for Melton and his police bodyguards Marcus Wright and Recio.
“It’s been proven in the past that juries, by and large, take following the law and their commitment to follow the law very, very seriously,” he said.
In that trial, Melton and his bodyguards were charged with several crimes, the most serious of which malicious mischief. This time, Melton and Recio are charged with conspiring to violate the constitutional prohibition against unreasonable search and seizure, violating those rights “under color of law” and a gun charge.
Magnolia Tribune
