Hinds DA case: inmate's ex-girlfriend said marijuana was his

Day five of the criminal trial against Hinds County's lead prosecutor felt more like a routine drug proceeding than it did a trial on obstruction of justice. That's because most witnesses who took the stand Tuesday came to testify about the circumstances of the drug charges against Christopher Butler.

Two Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics agents testified Tuesday afternoon about the raid conducted on Butler’s home in 2011 that led to charges of marijuana possession. Butler's ex-girlfriend and owner of the home, Kwanza Hilliard, also took the stand and reluctantly repeated earlier testimony in which she said the marijuana belonged to Butler.

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Butler, currently held at the downtown Jackson jail according to his mother, is the inmate Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith is accused in felony charges of assisting.

Originally, Smith wanted Butler's drug charges dismissed. Smith has repeatedly alleged that MBN agents planted the marijuana found inside an ottoman in the foyer of Butler's home. Smith said Butler's attorney, Kevin Rundlett, first brought the allegation to his attention, but the prosecution has attempted to show a deeper connection between Smith and Butler based on them meeting at a P.F. Chang's years ago.

MBN agents Kevin Dear and Eric Fulton, who often work undercover, testified Tuesday and adamantly denied planting drugs in Butler's home. The judge presiding over Smith's case, Judge Larry Roberts, would not allow any kind of electronic recording of the MBN agents' testimonies to protect their identity.

The framing allegation is based on video surveillance footage of the raid, which was absent from court proceedings for several years as the FBI had possession of it. Smith's attorney, Jim Waide, asked MBN agents Tuesday why the video was handed over to the FBI; neither of them could answer.

Assistant Attorney General Bob Anderson pointed out that a court filing shows it was Hinds County Court Judge Melvin Priester who requested the FBI obtain the DVR containing the video, after it malfunctioned and would not play in court, to determine the viability of the machine.

Prosecutors presented parts of the video in court Tuesday, which show Fulton finding the marijuana in the front of the home and Dear retrieving the drugs much later on. The defense questioned why the drug dogs brought in nearly an hour after the initial entry did not alert on the ottoman where the drugs were found. "There was no need to bring the drug dogs in the room where marijuana was already located," Fulton said.

Both agents said neither of them had received a call from Smith or anyone else with the district attorney's office attempting to obtain the video or ask them about the events of the raid.

Waide's line of questioning suggested his defense strategy has less to do with proving MBN agents planted drugs in Butler’s home and more to do with Smith’s supposed obligation to look into such claims no matter what. Waide also made clear Smith’s responsibility to supply any existing evidence, like the video, to Butler's defense attorney, which he said he was unable to do for years when the video was in the FBI's possession.

Hilliard hesitated in answering several questions by Assistant Attorney General Marvin Sanders Tuesday morning. She referred back to the transcript of a statement she gave law enforcement officers years ago, in which she suggested the marijuana found in her home belonged to Butler. She also testified that over $100,000 taken from her home was from a buy-out that she received, not from a drug-dealing operation.

While Hilliard said she hadn't seen Butler in possession of marijuana for years prior to 2011, agents who conducted the raid said they uncovered ledgers containing the dates and amounts of drugs allegedly sold to Butler's customers. Recent transactions were listed on the document, the agents said.

Dear said Butler originally agreed to give a statement saying the marijuana belonged to him so Hilliard wouldn't be charged, but when it came time to put pen to paper, Butler refused to cooperate.

The 2011 raid has been a focus of Smith's case, but Butler also faces drug charges from a separate event that took place a year later. Dear told the story of Butler's second drug charge, which began when agents conducted a traffic stop on Butler in April 2012 and found a large amount of marijuana and cocaine in his vehicle. Dear said he believed Butler was on the phone with his attorney when they pulled him over.

"He was yelling, 'Faye, come and help me,'" Dear said.

Faye Peterson, the district attorney before Smith, also represented Hilliard in a forfeiture hearing about the money seized from her home in 2011. Hilliard said Peterson alleged back then that the drugs found in Butler's home had been planted.

A man named James Earl Smith approached the Jackson Police Department months after Butler's 2012 arrest and said the marijuana found in the backpack in Butler's vehicle was his. But Dear said the man could not describe the way in which the marijuana was packaged and had no knowledge of cocaine in the bag.

Those are still not all the crimes Butler is accused of committing. In 2016, the attorney general's office arrested Butler on charges of embezzlement and mail fraud stemming from his work at Mega Mattress, where prosecutors allege he defrauded a Florida-based financing company.

The attorney general's office argues it has jurisdiction to prosecute such white collar crimes under Mississippi Code 7-5-59. Smith maintains it doesn't have the authority to do so based on the court case Williams v. State, in which the state Supreme Court ruled the attorney general could not prosecute a case dismissed by the district attorney. But in Williams, the case in question originated in the district attorney's office, whereas the fraud case against Butler originated with the attorney general.

At a preliminary hearing in that case, Smith showed up before Priester and created such a scene, those in attendance say, the judge had to reschedule the hearing. Prosecutors argue Smith had no businesses attending the hearing in the first place.

While he's accused of hindering Butler's prosecution in the drug charges against him, Smith's attempts to derail the attorney general's white collar crime case against Butler proves more puzzling. Is it a coincidence that Smith's legal opinion in the two cases contradicting that of prosecutors happens to benefit Butler?

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The state suggests Smith conspired to hinder Butler's prosecution by trying to indict two assistant attorneys general and Hinds County Circuit Judge Jeff Weill.

Heated testimony from Assistant Attorney General Patrick Beasley, a central figure in this case, did little to shine any new light on Smith's charges, but did demonstrate a possible power struggle between the offices.

In November 2015, the attorney general's office made an announcement that it had arrested an inmate on false pretense charges connected to a prison scam in which the man impersonated officials, promising the family members of other inmates that he could get criminal charges dropped in exchange for cash.

Around that time, Smith texted Beasley at 10 p.m.: "Good shot traitor. So you're the new anointed Uncle Tom?"

"What the f*** are you talking about?" Beasley responded, proceeding to call Smith the n-word.

Smith has repeatedly claimed he had been investigating a similar scam in Hinds County, but that the attorney general's office would not provide him relevant information to assist his investigation. It's possible this scenario compounded some of the contention between agencies.

Beasley also testified that after learning he could be indicted, he recommended the attorney general arrest Smith. Beasley said he believed Smith attempted to indict him, which could have presented a conflict for the attorney general's office in continuing to prosecute Butler, "for the sole purpose" of hindering Butler's prosecution.

Beasley said that throughout Smith's attempts to stall legal proceedings and indict him, Smith has been "deliberately deceiving and misleading" about the facts of Butler's case.

Prosecutors asked Beasley if, as an attorney, Smith is obligated to be truthful.

"One would think," Beasley responded.

Assistant District Attorney Jamie McBride, who was indicted along Smith in September but whose charges were dismissed, is expected to take the stand Wednesday.

Assistant Attorney General Larry Baker, who made comments about the case to The Clarion-Ledger last week and called the jury "them little people," was not in court Tuesday. Assistant Attorney General Bob Anderson told the judge he would not be returning.

Contact Anna Wolfe at 601-961-7326 or awolfe@gannett.com. Follow @ayewolfe on Twitter.