Attorneys file for contempt citation against Hinds supervisors

Five private attorneys appointed by Hinds County Circuit Judge Jeff Weill to handle cases of indigent defendants during his dispute with the county’s public defender’s office have filed a contempt of court citation against the Board of Supervisors for refusing to pay their claims.

“We have filed a petition for contempt of court for the county board refusing to follow a court order to pay us,” said attorney John Lyons. “We are amazed the county board will pay thousands of dollars to defend an assistant public defender’s ego, but refused to pay for criminal defense of Hinds County citizens.”

The Board of Supervisors once again set aside paying the claims on Monday. The board had previously rejected paying the claims.

Board of Supervisors attorney Pieter Teeuwissen has recommended that supervisors reject the claims. Teeuwissen said he expected legal action to result from the appointments by Weill.

In May, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled Weill doesn’t have authority to remove Assistant Hinds County Public Defender Alison Kelly from handling cases in his courtroom.

Weill and Kelly had been in an ongoing dispute, with Weill calling Kelly incompetent and saying she had engaged in numerous acts of misconduct. The public defender’s office denied Weill’s allegations, saying she is 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.

A dispute between Kelly and Weill escalated in March when Weill held Hinds County Public Defender Michele Harris and Assistant Public Defender Greg Spore in contempt of court and fined each $100. They had objected to his decision to let a private attorney handle the arraignment of a defendant whose case the public defender’s office had been assigned to handle in a lower court.

Weill appointed private attorneys to handle cases in which Kelly and other public defenders had previously been appointed by lower cases to represent indigent defendants in criminal cases. The board voted to pay claims of some private attorneys appointed by Weill, but that was before the state Supreme Court ruling.

Board of Supervisors President Peggy Hobson Calhoun said the board approved a policy this year not to pay any claims for outside services that can be done in-house. She said the county’s public defender’s office was available to handle the cases assigned to private attorneys.

In addition to Lyons, the board has rejected payment of bills by Clayton Lockhart, Bruce Barker, Damon Steverson and Zimmerman Law Firm.

Lockhart would not comment. Barker said he would continue to represent indigent clients to the best of his ability, but it would be nice to get paid for it,” Barker said.

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