Jackson Free Press

Former DA Peters ‘Will Be Barred from Practicing Law'

Former Hinds County District Attorney Ed Peters has turned in his law license to the Mississippi Bar Association. The Bar received Peters' resignation last week, but had to wait until …

DA Re-Indicts; Defense Alleges Bad Cop Work

This is an updated version of a story originally published July 4, 2008.

10 Local Stories of the Week

There's never a slow news week in Jackson, Miss., and last week was no exception. Here are the local stories JFP reporters brought you in case you missed them.

Prosecutor May Try Curtis Flowers a Seventh Time

A Mississippi prosecutor has tried and failed six times to send Curtis Flowers to the death chamber, with the latest trial conviction and death sentence overturned on Friday because of …

Informant Recorded DA Smith, Reported to FBI for Months

Former Hinds County Assistant District Attorney Ivon Johnson secretly taped District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith on several occasions over the last year, FBI Special Agent Robert Culpepper testified this morning …

Lost in a Broken System: Why Detainees Spend Years in Hinds Jails Without Trial

Fifty-eight people in Hinds County Detention Centers by July 2, 2021, had spent more than two years there, documents the Jackson Free Press obtained show.

Jeff Weill Announces Run for Judge Seat

Ward 1 Councilman Jeff Weill, who turns 53 tomorrow, is announcing this morning that he will run for the seat of Hinds County Circuit Judge Swan Yerger this year. Yerger, …

Hood: Victim's Mother Asked Him to Prosecute Bell

Attorney General Jim Hood told the Jackson Free Press Tuesday that he will personally prosecute George Bell III for the murder of Heather Spencer at the request of Spencer's mother, …

Transcript: JFP Interview with DA Candidate Michele Purvis

Interview by Adam Lynch

Mt. Olive, and I'm not a Jackson resident. I live in Clinton. I've lived in Clinton about three years.

Finding the Facts

Researchers attempt to trace historical effects of oil industry in neighboring communities

Since the mid-1990s, the U.S. Department of Interior's much-maligned Mineral Management Service (MMS) has sponsored projects to examine the history of the Gulf. Research teams from the University of Houston …

Texas DA's Killing Puts Other Prosecutors on Alert

After one of his assistant prosecutors was gunned down in January, Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland carried a gun everywhere, even when walking the dog.

Anderson Family: No Death Penalty

Read the family's letter.

JUST IN: Wilson Pleads Guilty to Murder in Teen Death

More details as they develop ...

Toice Wilson today pled guilty to murder in Hinds County Circuit Court after the prosecution refused his request yesterday to plead guilty to manslaughter in the beating death of Tawana …

10 Local Stories of the Week

There's never a slow news week in Jackson, Miss., and last week was no exception. Here are the local stories JFP reporters brought you in case you missed them.

Funkee Fanger Productions

"Unsolved Mysteries of Butt Nekkid Divorcees" combines reality TV with the paranormal. The premiere episode (titled "Know a Playa When You See His Azz") features a segment about a mysterious …

Spike Lee

It wasn't enough for filmmaker Spike Lee to make one documentary about the anger and outrage of Gulf Coast residents in the months after Hurricane Katrina. His new documentary, "If …

Decrypting Da Vinci

When New England novelist Dan Brown sat down in 2003 to write "The Da Vinci Code," he probably never guessed that in less than three years his controversial thriller would …

The DA Game: A Trial Of Three

Photos by Adam Lynch & Cheree Franco

While some Hinds County electoral positions can go for years without challenge, the district attorney's office is routinely on the chopping block, and it's no different this year. Incumbent Faye …

Reforming Hinds Criminal System Takes Center Stage in DA Race

The national trend of reforming the criminal-justice system, even from inside prosecutors' offices, emerged dramatically in Hinds County during the current campaigns for the next district attorney, who will be …

Judge Denies Melton Defense Motions

Friday the 13th was a dark day for Mayor Frank Melton and his two police bodyguards Michael Recio and Marcus Wright. This was their first real day in court regarding …