Hinds County DA accused of helping criminal defendants

Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith is accused in a six-count affidavit of providing information to assist criminal defendants.

He was arrested Wednesday.

The charges were filed by the state attorney general's office, whom Smith has accused of conspiring against him.

Smith, who is serving his third term as district attorney, couldn't be reached for comment. However, he previously told The Clarion-Ledger that his office is in a dispute with the attorney general's office.

Smith was arrested Wednesday following a joint investigation by the attorney general’s office and the FBI into allegations that the DA had illegally advised or defended individuals charged with crimes, Attorney General Jim Hood said.

RELATED STORY: State auditor, Hinds district attorney spar over indictments

Smith, 45, of Jackson, was arrested at his office by investigators with the attorney general's office and the Hinds County Sheriff’s Department. Smith is charged with six counts of violating Mississippi Code Section 97-11-3, a misdemeanor. That law states the attorney general or district attorney shall not “consult, advise, counsel or defend” a person charged with a crime or misdemeanor.

Hood said the joint investigation between the attorney general's office and FBI revealed Smith violated Mississippi law related to his involvement with two criminal defendants while serving as district attorney.

An affidavit filed Wednesday said Smith unlawfully advised and provided counsel to Christopher Butler, who had been charged with embezzlement, wire fraud and possession of a controlled substance, and Darnell Turner, who had received charges of aggravated assault and domestic violence. Smith represented Turner before he was elected district attorney, court records show.

All but one of the six counts focus on Smith’s actions related to Butler.

According to the affidavit, Smith gave Butler’s attorney, Sanford Knott, a letter that outlined ways to attack the state’s case against Butler; met with Butler twice at the Hinds County jail without his attorney present; met with Butler’s family and referred to him as his client; and used the grand jury to pressure a circuit judge to dismiss drug possession charges against Butler.

When Smith met with Butler’s family, he attempted to retain an attorney to represent him and worked with defense counsel to release Butler from jail, according to the affidavit.

According to his letter to Knott, Smith had filed a motion for contempt of court in March “due to blatant and contemptuous behavior of Assistant Attorneys General Patrick Beasley and Shaun Yurkhuran.” The attorney general's office scheduled a hearing without telling Smith, and the court held that Smith had waived his right to object because he didn’t attend, according to the letter.

The affidavit said that this month, Smith gave Turner’s attorney, Dennis Sweet III, emails that touched on information that had previously been sealed by the court, court records show.

This month, Sweet filed a motion to dismiss Turner’s case that alleged improper, ex parte communication between the court and attorney general's office, which had been investigating whether Hinds County was properly indicting individuals. Two circuit judges recused themselves from Turner’s case and from hearings conducted by the attorney general's office.

Smith was booked into the Hinds County jail. If convicted, he could be removed as district attorney and prohibited from holding any other elected office or government position. Additionally, he faces a $500 fine.

“It is particularly sad to have to prosecute and seek removal from office a fellow prosecutor,” Hood said.  “We greatly appreciate the hard work of the FBI on this case and we hope to resolve this as soon as possible.”

“Those who are sworn to uphold the law are not above the law,” said Donald Alway, special agent in charge of the FBI in Mississippi. “Though today’s charges are only allegations, public corruption poses a fundamental threat to our national security and way of life. It impacts everything from how well our borders are secured and our neighborhoods protected … to verdicts handed down in courts. The FBI appreciates the close cooperation on this matter with the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office.”

Smith has told The Clarion-Ledger that the dispute between his office and the attorney general's office includes the Butler case.

Smith said his office initially tried to have a possession of marijuana with intent charge against .Butler dismissed, but Hinds County Circuit Judge Jeff Weill refused to dismiss the charge. He said Butler has video evidence to show evidence was planted against him.

Smith was a criminal defense attorney prior to becoming district attorney.

Smith has insinuated that some employees in the attorney general's office may be trying to get him. He said Assistant Attorney General Stanley Alexander, who unsuccessfully ran against him last year, and others are former employees of Faye Peterson, who Smith ousted as district attorney in a 2007 election.

Late Wednesday, Chokwe Antar Lumumba, the son of late Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba, said at a news conference in Smith's office that he is a supporter of Smith and that the charges are politically motivated by those in Hood's office.

"This is an utter waste of public resources to try to prosecute a misdemeanor," Lumumba said.

Contact Jimmie E. Gates at 601-961-7212 or jgates@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @jgatesnews on Twitter. Contact Mollie Bryant at 601-961-7251 or mbryant2@gannett.com. Follow @MollieEBryant on Twitter.