by Adam Lynch
June 24, 2009
During a June 16 City Council meeting, the council votedwithout issue or debateto pay the late Mayor Frank Meltons $37,500 attorney fee in connection with his federal trial for demolishing a home on Ridgeway Street. Stokes, who was a witness in the federal trial, recused himself from the vote, leaving acting Mayor Leslie McLemore, Margaret Barrett-Simon, Marshand Crisler, Frank Bluntson and Charles Tillman with the vote. Crislerwho has opposed paying Meltons fees in the pastvoted with Tillman and Bluntson to pay Jackson Attorney John Reeves for his representation of the mayor, providing a majority vote on the issue.
Reeves said he was thankful for the councils quick decision, a stark dissimilarity from its earlier inability to approve Meltons attorneys fees in a state trial for the same demolition.
A major influence in the councils decision could have been Meltons death weeks before federal prosecutors took his case to court a second time after a recent mistrial. Prosecutors dropped their charges when the mayor died days after losing the May 5 Democratic primary.
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May 23, 2012 | 01:37 PM
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May 31, 2012 - Otis Lotus and M.O.S.S. perform. Cocktails at 6 p.m. Proceeds benefit the Mississippi Animal Rescue League. more