By The Vanguard Staff
JACKSON, MI – Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch asked a judge last week to toss a police officer’s 2022 conviction for killing a 62-year-old man, siding against the district attorney who prosecuted him, according to an NBC News report that added, “The unusual move strengthened the officer’s case before the Mississippi Court of Appeals.
Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens accused Fitch of “undermining the work of the jury that voted last year to convict former Jackson Police Officer Anthony Fox of culpable negligent manslaughter for slamming George Robinson to the ground and inflicting a fatal head injury,” noting in an interview, “It was dismissive to the rule of law, and justice, and the will of the people.”
Yahoo News said Fitch’s office declined to comment—her filing said the jury made a mistake, and added, “After thorough review, the State has concluded that the evidence at trial was insufficient as a matter of law to allow a rational juror to convict Fox of culpable-negligence manslaughter…Fox should never have been convicted and should not face another trial.”
Matthew Steffey, a law professor at Mississippi College, called Fitch’s motion “extraordinary,” not just because “she essentially bigfooted Owens, but also because it pits a white Republican attorney general against a Black Democratic district attorney, both of whom are running for re-election this fall,” according to NBC News.
The dispute, Steffey said, “mirrors the political and racial dynamics of an ongoing legal battle over white Republican state officials’ attempts to assert more control over the justice system in Jackson, the majority-Black and heavily Democratic state capital and the seat of Hinds County.”
NBC News’ story added Steffey said, “The conservatives who run state government “don’t appear to trust the voters and elected officials in Hinds County, and certainly view them as their political opponents, not their allies.”
Fitch’s office also makes the final determination whether to pursue criminal charges against police officers in Mississippi who have shot someone.
NBC said, “The Jan. 13, 2019, encounter between Fox and Robinson began after police were sent to Robinson’s neighborhood to search for a suspect in the killing of a local pastor. Soon after arriving, Fox said he noticed a woman standing at a parked car holding money. Suspecting a drug deal, Fox said he approached. Robinson was sitting in the driver’s seat.
“Robinson had recently been released from the hospital after having a stroke that had left him partially paralyzed but able to drive; witnesses told investigators he was returning home to a celebratory cookout after making a trip to the store. Fox said Robinson did not comply with his orders to exit the car and seemed to be trying to hide something; witnesses said they heard Robinson say he’d just had a stroke and was struggling to get out.”
NBC noted, “A brief struggle followed in which Fox, with help from other officers, slammed Robinson to the ground. An ambulance arrived, and an EMT bandaged a cut on Robinson’s head. He refused further treatment. No drugs were found, but Robinson was given a citation alleging failure to obey and resisting arrest. He was allowed to leave.”
Robinson’s girlfriend found him in bed unconscious and foaming at the mouth. He was taken to the hospital, where he died two days later and an autopsy determined that Robinson died of a subdural hematoma, or bleeding around the brain, caused by “multiple blunt head injury,” and labeled his death a homicide—meaning that it was the result of actions by another person.
NBC added that the Justice Department launched a civil rights investigation that did not result in charges, but a Hinds County grand jury indicted Fox and two other Jackson police officers—all of whom are Black, as was Robinson—on second-degree murder charges. A judge later dismissed the charges against the other officers. Fox, however, was convicted of culpable negligent manslaughter and sentenced to five years in prison.
Fox, according to news reports and Yahoo News, appealed that conviction, arguing that the “evidence at trial did not support the verdict — that Robinson’s injuries were due to his resisting arrest and his underlying medical condition, and not the result of excessive force. Fox’s lawyers have also said the judge gave ‘erroneous’ instructions to the jury and unfairly prevented Fox from recounting what Robinson said to him.”
NBC News explained, “Owens said Fitch’s office gave him five minutes’ notice that it was going to file that brief,” arguing Fitch made an “unprecedented political maneuver” to support a police officer. In a later brief to the Court of Appeals, Owens’ office accused Fitch’s office of making “factual misrepresentations” while “zealously advocating for the interest of a convicted criminal defendant.”
“We did everything related to this case by the book,” Owens said. “A textbook examination. We followed evidence where it led; we didn’t have any preconceived notions; we gave the benefit of the doubt in many instances to police and the nature of their jobs.”
Derrick Johnson, the president of the NAACP and a longtime Jackson resident, said Fitch’s actions on the Fox case should be seen as a preview of what could happen if a new law creating a state-appointed court to handle criminal cases in Jackson is allowed to go into effect.
NBC News said, “The NAACP has sued to block the law — a challenge backed by the U.S. Justice Department — saying it strips Jackson residents of their voting power and weakens their say in how justice is administered in the city, where judges and district attorneys are elected. A judge has put the law on hold while the case proceeds.”
NBC News reported “Robinson’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit accusing Fox and the two other officers of excessive force and attempting to cover up their actions, accusing the city of Jackson of failing to properly train and supervise the officers, and accusing the ambulance company that responded to the scene of failing to properly treat Robinson.”
A federal court judge dismissed some claims, while others remain pending in state court.
