Jimmie E. Gates

Clarion Ledger

Hinds County Circuit Judge Jeff Weill and the county Public Defender's office are again in a dispute about a year after the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled Weill didn't have authority to remove an assistant public defender from handling cases in his courtroom.

On Wednesday, Weill found Assistant Public Defender Chris Routh in contempt of court and ordered him jailed without bond until 5 p.m. Wednesday, according to Hinds County Public Defender Michele Purvis Harris.

According to Harris, Weill was hearing arguments from the state to revoke the bond given in county court to Loren Blackwell, who is charged in a capital murder case her office represented. Blackwell was in court with her 3-month-old baby, and both began to cry. Routh requested a finding as to why bail for the accused was being denied, and Weill immediately said he wanted order in court, according to an affidavit filed in state Supreme Court. The affidavit said Weill took a 10-minute break and then held Routh in contempt.

Weill filed a response motion Thursday, citing misrepresentation by the assistant public defender. He included the transcript of the hearing.

"After considering the evidence presented, the trial court ruled that bond would be denied but stated that the court will reconsider upon the filing of the proper motion with proper evidence," Weill's response said. "The trial court stated that the hearing was concluded and Mr. Routh immediately made an attempt to make additional argument. The undersigned directed that the issue had been finally concluded and directed Mr. Routh to 'please be seated' numerous times while Mr. Routh continued to interrupt and argue with the trial court and re-urge his position without any regard for court order or directives. Due to Mr. Routh's contumacious conduct and lack of candor with the trial court, he was found to be in direct criminal contempt and ordered to be incarcerated for the remainder of the afternoon."

Attorney Merrida "Buddy" Coxwell, representing Routh, filed an emergency appeal with the state's high court. A three-judge panel of the court granted, in part, the petition filed on behalf of Routh. It said Routh should be immediately released from custody after posting a $500 bond while he appeals his contempt citation to the state high court.

On Friday, Coxwell filed a motion on behalf of Routh with the state Supreme Court, arguing that Weill's motion is improper and premature and should be stricken.

"Judge Weill seems to be arguing his case for contempt against Mr. Routh," the motion says."Mr. Routh submits that this pleading is inappropriate under the Mississippi Rules of Appellate Practice. A panel of the Mississippi Supreme Court, headed by Justice (Mike) Randolph had already granted Mr. Routh the bond to which he was legally entitled. That essentially ended the issue brought forth in Mr. Routh’s Petition for Emergency Relief. If Judge Weill had granted bond or the stay that was requested there would have been no need for Mr. Routh to file any pleading in this court. Judge Weill’s pleading raises issues which in all fairness should have been directed to Mr. Routh during the hearing in Hinds Circuit Court so Mr. Routh could have answered them or had his client answer them. The pleading appears to be Judge Weill’s efforts to “argue his case” for the contempt he levied against Mr. Routh. The appropriate time for Judge Weill to present his side under the Rule 28, ... will be in his Appellee’s Brief. ... Judge Weill’s explanation for imposing the most severe form of punishment against Mr. Routh is premature, though the undersigned will answer Judge Weill now in a responsive pleading if it is the wish of this court, however it is the undersigned’s belief that Judge Weill’s pleading is improper and premature and should be stricken."

On Thursday, Harris called a news conference to protest Weill's action.

"The actions of Judge Weill on yesterday in effect criminalized the very job we are sworn to do," Harris said. "Chris Routh was jailed for doing nothing more than representing his client."

RELATED: LOREN BLACKWELL CASE

Weill was hearing the case of Blackwell. In a preliminary hearing in October, Hinds County Court Judge Melvin Priester Sr. sent the case to the grand jury on charges of murder and auto theft before ordering that she be placed on house arrest on the condition that she post $1,000 bail.

Blackwell, 24, was arrested and charged with capital murder and auto theft in September along with Walter Lee Young, 21, who faces the same charges. They had both been denied bail at that time.

The victim, Lee Kendrick, was found shot in the head in an abandoned unit in Cedarstone Apartments in Northeast Jackson on Sept. 2 after being reported missing Aug. 31.

District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith said at the time investigators told Priester in the preliminary hearing that the evidence against Blackwell was not especially strong.

Weill's response motion indicated there was a discussion as to whether Blackwell's baby had to be breast fed. Weill said Routh misrepresented a statement from Blackwell's physician. Weill said Routh only referenced one page of the document, where it directs the breastfeeding of the child. The judge said that upon his review of the document, the language stated, "Direct breastfeed or give expressed breastmilk or Similac Neosure formula at least every 3 hours around the clock."

The dispute between Weill and the public defender's office is the latest salvo.

Last year, the public defender and Weill were at odds after Weill attempted to ban one of her assistants from handling cases in his courtroom.

Weill called Assistant Public Defender Alison Kelly incompetent and said she had engaged in numerous acts of misconduct. The public defender's office denied Weill's allegations, saying Kelly was a zealous advocate for her clients and had won a high percentage of her cases in Weill's courtroom decided by a jury.

The state Supreme Court said the allegations by Weill against Kelly didn't support the action he took.

Contact Jimmie E. Gates at (601) 961-7212 or jgates@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @jgatesnews on Twitter.