Posted on 08/16/2003 10:05:04 AM PDT by WKB
Injunction blocks indicted lawman from performing duties
CLARKSDALE — Tunica County Sheriff Jerry Ellington will keep his title and salary but cannot perform any duties the remainder of his term, a judge ruled Friday.
Coahoma Chancery Judge William Willard granted a permanent injunction preventing Ellington — who is facing extortion and bribery charges — from going to the sheriff's department and controlling employees or property.
The injunction will last until Jan. 5, when a new sheriff takes office, Willard said. Ellington was knocked out of the sheriff's race in the Democratic primary by Deputy K.C. Hamp.
"It is the citizens' county, not Sheriff Ellington's county," Willard said. "Sheriff Ellington took an oath to uphold the laws of the state of Mississippi and the Constitution of the United States. If you can't do it, don't take the oath."
Ellington will continue to earn his annual $55,000 salary.
The state Supreme Court has ruled elected officials accused of crimes cannot be removed from office unless they are convicted and sentenced.
David Blount of the secretary of state's office didn't know whether Ellington is the first elected official ordered to not perform his duties.
Evidence, including testimony about threats of job termination and extortion, show "the abandonment of Sheriff Ellington's fiduciary role as sheriff of Tunica County," Willard said. "I can't even comprehend what kind of civil liability there is out there."
Ellington immediately left court after the 90-minute hearing. He didn't have an attorney.
Ellington couldn't be reached after the hearing. It's unclear whether he will appeal Willard's ruling.
During the hearing, Ellington disputed accusations that he made sexual advances to female employees, demanded payoffs from deputies who wanted better shifts and threatened deputies and jail employees.
"I'd like to see some proof or evidence to allow this injunction to go forward," he said. "I haven't seen anything yet that says anything has been proven one way or the other."
Investigator Sheila McKay testified that Ellington told two male employees as she walked by that he had "had all the females in the department except for three or four. But that was about to change."
During cross-examination, McKay said Ellington wasn't directly speaking to her when he made the comment. But she said she knew he was talking about her because she was the only woman in the room at the time.
Afterward, attorney Gary Friedman, who is representing the supervisors, asked Ellington whether he made the comment about McKay. Ellington denied it.
"I was talking about hiring females," Ellington said. "She caught the tail end of (the conversation). We were losing a lot of female employees. It had nothing to do with sexual activity."
Until a new sheriff is seated, Chief Deputy Lenard Conway will be in charge of law enforcement operations. W.C. Eskridge will operate the jail, and Earl Dishmon, the department's executive administrative assistant, will handle finances. They will report to County Administrator Ken Murphree.
On Ellington's way out of the hearing, Tupelo attorney Victor Fleitas served him with a copy of a federal lawsuit filed by 18 former and current deputies. The deputies, including former Lt. Eugene Payne, have accused Ellington of threatening to fire them if they didn't support his re-election campaign.
Payne and four other deputies who filed the lawsuit were in court Friday. They each would not comment.
Ellington faces federal and state charges accusing him of extorting money from bail bondsmen to do business in Tunica County. In his federal indictment, Ellington is charged with taking money from a deputy he promoted to allow the deputy to steal money from drug dealers.
No trial dates have been set.
If convicted, Ellington faces up to 60 years in prison and $1 million in fines on the federal charges, and up to five years and a $5,000 fine on the state charge.
Tunica native Jean Smith said she was sorry to hear about what happened to Ellington.
"I thought he was going to make a difference," she said. "A lot of people had confidence in him."
Another Tunica native, Theresa Smith, said she is hopeful the sheriff's department will become more professional and honest.
"We got to have better than what we do now," she said. "We have some good people over there. There are some bad, too."
FMCDH
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