The state’s appeal of Ward 7 Alderman Henry Vaughn’s driving under the influence case ended Friday when Circuit Judge Lee Coleman dismissed the challenge.
Coleman concluded the legal saga after three Oktibbeha County supervisors — Marvell Howard, Orlando Trainer and Joe Williams — voted not to appoint a new prosecutor to the case.
Without a special prosecutor, the state had no representation to continue former prosecutor George Mitchell’s appeal.
Ward 6 Alderman Roy A. Perkins, who represented Vaughn, previously withdrew a request for Oktibbeha County supervisors to pay his legal fees. Perkins argued he was entitled to almost $2,000 because of Vaughn’s undue prosecution.
“My client and I are very ecstatic that this long, drawn out case is finally, permanently and forever concluded,” Perkins said. “We were completely confident at all times that we would have a fully favorable and a successful outcome.”
Vaughn was charged with DUI first, careless driving and no proof of insurance in June, 2014, after an Oktibbeha County deputy claimed the car he was driving crossed Highway 25’s middle and right-hand lines multiple times.
County Prosecutor Haley Brown recused from the case last year, saying in open court such a move would avoid the “appearance of impropriety that could come with an elected, local official prosecuting another elected, local official.”
Mitchell, a lawyer based out of Eupora, was then named special prosecutor.
In September, Justice Court Judge Tony Boykin issued a directed verdict — which says the state fails to prove the underlying offenses — despite law enforcement testifying Vaughn smelled of alcohol, struggled with fine motor skills as he attempted to retrieve his driver’s license and had red eyes during the traffic stop.
The deputy also testified that Vaughn admitted to having “one drink.”
Vaughn attempted a portable breathalyzer test at the scene, the deputy testified, but didn’t blow hard enough for the machine to register a reading. The Ward 7 aldermen refused further testing at the scene and while in custody.
A booking officer also testified Vaughn was adamant he drank alcohol, saying he “wanted to make sure that I understood it was alcohol and not narcotics” while being processed.
Perkins contended Vaughn never admitted to drinking alcohol and criticized the state’s testimony because the deputy couldn’t remember where exactly she pulled Vaughn over 15 months after the traffic stop.
Mitchell appealed Boykin’s directed verdict to circuit court, but recused from the case after he was appointed to the 5th Circuit bench by Gov. Phil Bryant.
It appeared Mitchell’s appeal would simply challenge Boykin’s decision to issue a directed verdict, but not change Vaughn’s legal fate since state law allows some appeals to “not subject the defendant to further prosecution, nor shall the judgement of the acquittal be reversed.”
A majority of supervisors blocked appointing a special prosecutor to the case last month after saying they wished the case would not move forward.
Howard, who noted Perkins was likely to drop his request for attorney’s fees, said Mitchell should have approached the board and asked permission to file an appeal since it was Mitchell’s action that placed the board in a position to potentially have to pay Perkins.
State statute and court rules provided Mitchell an avenue to file an appeal like it does for regular prosecutors, board attorney Jackson Brown told supervisors last month.
After Howard’s motion to block a special prosecutor appointment passed, Williams attempted to specifically prevent Jackson Brown from prosecuting the case, but the motion died at the table without a second.
Williams previously said naming a new prosecutor would be a “waste of taxpayer dollars” and the matter should be handled “locally and in house,” despite naming Jackson Brown and attorney Lydia Quarles as special prosecutors for the remainder of Mitchell’s Oktibbeha County caseload.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Dispatch reporter Carl Smith is the husband of Oktibbeha County Prosecutor Haley Brown and the son-in-law of board attorney Jackson Brown.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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