Man gets 20 years for sexual battery
A Columbus man arrested three years after he reportedly sexually assaulted a woman pleaded guilty to the assault in Lowndes County Circuit Court last week.
‘A better deal’: Plea agreements incentivize defendants to admit to crimes, keep the justice system moving
Starkville resident James Bardwell had a choice.
He could go to trial for sexual battery and two counts of being a convicted felon in possession of a weapon. Or, he could accept a plea agreement from the state to confess to the weapons charges, spend the next 18 years in the Mississippi Department of Corrections and not have to register as a sex offender when released.
Two plead guilty to sexually assaulting children in separate cases
A man accused of sexually assaulting two children under the age of 16 will spend 15 years in prison.
Columbus man pleads guilty to second-degree murder
A Columbus man will spend 35 years in prison for fatally shooting a man outside a convenience store two years ago.
Lowndes man to serve five years for domestic assault
A Lowndes County man arrested for attacking one woman and cyberstalking another will spend five years in prison after he pleaded guilty to domestic violence in Lowndes County Circuit Court.
Mother of statutory rape defendant faints in court
The mother of a man accused of sleeping with a 14-year-old fainted in the courtroom Wednesday after her son pleaded guilty to the charge in Lowndes County Circuit Court.
Suspect pleads not guilty in Cotton District rape, assault
One of two men arrested in connection to an alleged Cotton District rape, kidnapping and assault pleaded not guilty to six felony charges Wednesday in Oktibbeha County Circuit Court.