Lawyers on both sides of a corruption scandal in Mississippi’s capital city are seeking to delay the upcoming trial date, citing not enough time to review evidence.
Legal counsel for Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, Councilman Aaron Banks, and Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens filed a joint motion with the prosecution on Wednesday to label the case complex, continue trial, and reset pretrial deadlines.
The three elected officials recently pleaded not guilty to an array of federal charges as part of a bribery investigation by the FBI.
Owens, along with his cousin and local businessman Sherik Marve Smith, is said to have orchestrated a bribery conspiracy to ensure two real estate developers (actually FBI informants) would be awarded a real estate development adjacent to the city’s convention center. As part of the alleged scheme, approval from the city council was promised to the informants posing as developers.
Owens, Smith, Lumumba, Banks, and former Councilwoman Angelique Lee all allegedly accepted bribes from the ‘developers.’ While Lee and Smith fessed up to their involvement in the ordeal, Owens, Lumumba, and Banks have maintained their innocence amid a combined 17 charges ranging from conspiracy to bribery to racketeering.
The three men are scheduled to stand trial on January 6, 2025 — 46 days from now. But lawyers from both sides are saying that’s not enough time to thoroughly execute the discovery stage of the pretrial procedure. Specifically, both parties are looking to efficiently deliver such a large quantity of discovery materials to the defense.
Defense attorneys vouch it could take months for them to prepare for trial after receiving all necessary documents from the prosecution.
“The scope of discovery is estimated to involve hundreds of hours of audio and video recordings as well as thousands of pages of discovery. These materials include, inter alia, toll records, tax returns, transcripts, financial records, reports of interviews (MOIs, ROIs, 302s), electronic communications, search warrant returns of devices and electronic accounts, and other materials,” a portion of the continuation motion reads.
“The parties are actively collaborating to identify and facilitate a searchable platform for the Defense
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