Council Votes to Pay Bodyguards’ Legal Fees

Kenya Hudson

Jackson City Council voted to pay legal bills for former Mayor Frank Melton's bodyguards Marcus Wright, pictured, and Michael Recio for their 2007 state trial.

by Adam Lynch
December 1, 2009

The Jackson City Council agreed to finally pay attorney's fees for former city employees Marcus Wright and Michael Recio today. Former bodyguards of deceased Mayor Frank Melton, both men were with Melton when he oversaw the illegal demolition of a home on Ridgeway Street in 2006.

Both pleaded guilty in federal court for their actions related to the demolition—Wright pleaded guilty and cooperated with prosecutors in the weeks leading up to the February trial, while Recio pleaded guilty after Melton's death in May. The city is not obligated to pay court fees for city employees when city attorneys find they have acted outside the scope of their employment duties (a determination that often follows a successful court conviction). Prior to the federal trial, however, a Hinds County Circuit Court jury found all three men, including Melton, innocent of all charges related to the same destruction. The attorneys' fees concern the state trial, but the council had doubts considering the bodyguards' federal guilty pleas. The council refused with a 3-to-3 vote last October to pay the $150,000 bill for Melton's 2007 state legal fees, although it agreed in a 3-to-2 vote this June to pay his $37,000 bill for representation in the federal trial.

Council members, including Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon and former Councilmen Leslie McLemore and Marshand Crisler, had argued in the years leading up to the federal trial that the bodyguards' defense attorneys were charging an exorbitant amount for services when all they really did, according to McLemore, was "follow the lead" of Melton's attorney Dale Danks. The council voted down a similar authorization vote to pay legal fees last year.

City Attorney Pieter Teeuwissen said the lawyers had agreed this year to accept a reduced fee that amounted to one-third of their original charges—$7,500 for Recio's lawyer, current Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith, and $10,000 for Wright's attorney, current Hinds County Assistant District Attorney Winston Thomas.

Wiell suggested referring both matters to the council's Rules Committee, but Council President Frank Bluntson, an unwavering Melton supporter who had defended the payment of Melton's fees in 2008, said he was eager to settle the issue in favor of paying the attorneys.

"This is the will of the chair," Bluntson said. "If you want to vote against the chair, you're welcomed to do this, but the chair is willing to move on with this. We have the city attorney making a recommendation for us, and we should do this."

The council voted 4-to-1 in the settlement of fees for Wright and 5-to-1 in favor of Recio's fees, with Weill voting against the authorization in both votes. Councilman Charles Tillman was not available for the first vote, while Barrett-Simon did not attend the council meeting this morning.

Weill, who is still concerned about paying the fees following the bodyguards' guilty pleas in federal court, said he was working with council members and city legal "to come up with a policy to address these issues in the future."

"We don't have a rough draft, but we should have one the first of the year as we go through the process," Weill said.

Ward 3 Councilman Keneth Stokes, who had also supported paying the fees last year, said he wanted the city to remain consistent concerning the issue.

"I would hope that consistency would be the order of the day. If we've been paying them in the past then we must continue paying them. If we're not, then let's not. We can't pay for Joe and not for Al," Stokes said.

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