CLICK TO ENLARGE..Hattiesburg Fireman Greg Hinton moved to the county in May of 2006 according to homestead property records. Hinton is homesteaded in Forrest County outside of the city limits.
Hattiesburg Fireman Greg Hinton voted illegally in the latest special election on September 24th according to homestead property records and poll books. Hinton moved outside the city in May of 2006 and claimed his permanent residence as 179 South Lake Road near Paul B. Johnson state park. Hinton’s vehicles are also tagged in the county. At the time of this investigation Hinton was also driving a truck with expired Forrest county plates.
State law required a person to vote in the precinct in which they live, yet Hinton voted at the infamous Rowan Precinct. Hinton wasn’t the only fireman to cast an illegal ballot on September 24th. Fireman Joe Anderson also cast a ballot using a property he owns in Hattiesburg, which had been homesteaded allegedly in violation of state law. Anderson is a resident of Jones County. What is even more disturbing are reports that acting Chief Paul Presley allowed both firemen to leave firehouse #7 at Tatum Park to cast the illegal ballots, knowing that the two fireman were not city residents.
CLICK TO ENLARGE Joe Anderson signed a sworn affidavit under penalty of perjury that he resided at his Jones county residence. He received a homestead tax credit for 2012. Anderson and his wife both voted in the election.
Hattiesburg Fireman Joe Anderson, stationed at the Tatum Park precinct, and his wife Carmon Yvette Anderson voted in the September 24th election and did so illegally according to documents uncovered by investigators with the Hattiesburg Patriot. Anderson went in to pay the Jones County tax bill on February 1, 2013 and the assessor in Jones County allowed Anderson to file a Class 1 affidavit swearing under penalty of perjury that Anderson had lived in and claimed Homestead for the year 2012.
After filing the “Class 1 Affidavit” the assessor voided the original 4,300.00 tax bill and adjusted the fee in essence back-dating his homestead to 2012, lowering the fee from 4300.00 to 2876.00. Anderson also has his vehicles registered in Jones County. Anderson also claimed his home in Hattiesburg as homestead at the same time as the home in Jones county. The Forrest County Tax Assessor has since revoked the homestead exemption for the Hattiesburg home.
CLICK TO ENLARGE This document shows Joe Anderson and his wife claimed dual homestead tax exemptions for the two properties they own. It is only legal to claim one residence under the homestead tax exemption, and that must be your primary residence.
Anderson is a fireman at the Tatum road precinct and both he and his wife are not the only people to have voted in the election who didn’t live in Hattiesburg. Anderson’s wife, Carmen, is the HR Director of the Hattiesburg Public School System.
The Hattiesburg Patriot will release the names and evidence of other voters who were not Hattiesburg residents, and who voted in the election. It is not yet clear if Anderson and his wife voted in the June 4th election, or the May primary. Each instance of illegal voting is potentially another crime.
**UPDATE – Both Joe Anderson and Carmen Anderson pleaded guilty to illegal voting.
Election Commissioner Turner Jones stands beside the Rowan Box, which he applied a seal to it after it arrived to City Hall without one.
The Rowan ballot box has come under scrutiny since it arrived so late back at city hall and arrived without a security seal. All ballot boxes were delivered to the precincts with a seal, but later during election day the Rowan seal was reported as being lost. So, a second seal was delivered to the Rowan precinct. The Rowan Precinct is Dupree’s strong hold. In spite of multiple seals being given to the Rowan poll manager, the ballot box was delivered to City Hall over five hours after polling closed, and the box did not have a security seal on the box. The Hattiesburg Patriot reported the missing seal at 1:00am Wednesday morning. The Hattiesburg Patriot’s witness overheard Mr. Jones ask the poll manager, “where’s the seal?” She shrugged her shoulders. Mr. Turner then slipped a seal on the box and pretended as if nothing happened, but later admitted that the seal on the box was not on it when it arrived and that he placed a seal on the box after arrival.
On Wednesday, media attended the ballot inspection process at City Hall and when questioned about the incident on camera Mr. Jones stated that the additional seal for the Rowan box also went missing, and Election Commissioner Lillie Easton went to Rowan to check on matters and “accompanied the box back (to city hall) to preserve the integrity of the election.” This statement is not true, as Ms. Easton did not accompany the box back, but instead rode in a separate vehicle from the poll manager. The poll manager was not only in possession of the box, but also in possession of the key to the lock on the box. This is a clear violations of MS CODE 23-15-247 which states:
SEC. 23-15-247. Ballot boxes.
The commissioners of election in each county shall procure, if not already provided, a sufficient number of ballot boxes, which shall be distributed by them to the voting precincts of the county before the time for opening the polls. The boxes shall be secured by good and substantial locks, and, if an adjournment shall take place after the opening of the polls and before all the votes shall be counted, the box shall be securely locked, so as to prevent the admission of anything into it, or the taking of anything from it, during the time of adjournment; and the box shall be kept by one of the managers and the key by another of the managers, and the manager having the box shall carefully keep it, and neither unlock or open it himself nor permit it to be done, nor permit any person to have any access to it during the time of adjournment. The box shall not be removed from the polling building or place after the polls are opened until the count is complete, if as many as three (3) qualified electors object. After each election the ballot boxes shall be delivered, with the keys thereof, to the clerk of the circuit court of the county for preservation; and he shall keep them for future use, and, when called for, deliver them to the commissioners of election.
Sending someone to ride in a separate car from the ballot box is not “accompanying” anything; nor is it securing the integrity of the election. Why didn’t Mrs. Easton simply take a seal to the precinct, record the number, and put it on the ballot box before it left the building? Why did Turner Jones make misleading statements, or was he misinformed? This incident raises more questions than it answers and none are comforting for many citizens of Hatteisburg.
Jailbird didn’t like song. William Vaston Fairley is seen attacking Jackson and gripping the microphone stand like a night stick. Click to enlarge.
Things became violent in a hurry at Brownstone’s Restaurant on July 20th, and customers were horrified with fear when a man identified as William Vaston Fairley stormed from the bar where he was sitting to confront Thomas Jackson over lyrics in the song Jackson was singing. The song written by Jackson was about Hattiesburg and had a verse critical of Mayor Johnny Dupree and his longtime friend, pastor, and TV Evangelist Kenny Fairley. Fairley’s son, a convicted felon, charged Jackson and said, “What’s your name boy?” Fairley then snatched Jackson’s hat off his head, threw it across the room, and shouted, “You’re gonna sing a different song” to which Jackson replied, “”I’ll sing whatever you want. What song do you want me to sing.” Fairley responded, “Any song but that one. – You better say YES SIR, BOY. Say it again!”
Click to enlarge. Vaston Fairley is pictured in his violent tirade at Brownstone’s on July 20th.
Fairley then gripped the microphone pole and snatched it from Jackson where it hit the ground. Onlookers were horrified at this thug like behavior. As Fairley’s violent tantrum escalated into a profane laden tirade, Brownstone’s manager ran upstairs to diffuse the situation and attempted to get Fairley out of the bar. Fairley protested about the song and the manager responded, “I don’t know what’s going on, but I have to get you out of here!” Fairley looked at the horrified onlookers and said, “Fuck you, fuck all of you.” Fairley then walked over to Jackson’s hat, which he (Vaston) had previously thrown on the floor, pickled it up, and left the building with the property. When the manager returned, Jackson said, “What about my hat?” So, the manager went outside to retrieve Jackson’s property.
During the profane laden tirade, a witness, who asked that his name not be published, called 911 to report the violent episode and told the
Hattiesburg Patriot,
“He (William Vaston Fairley) looked at me and said ‘Fuck you, fuck all of you.’ I took ‘you’ to mean ‘white people’ considering the fact that he’d made the singer say ‘Yes sir’ to him, and followed up with, ‘You better say YES SIR, BOY. Say it again.’ If he’s representative of what his dad does (Pastor Kenny Fairley) , I don’t even want to know what their ideas about Christianity are (and I’d prefer if a single church didn’t have all that power over Hattiesburg). Vaston reflected awfully on DuPree and his father’s church. I went to that church once and, after about 4 ‘offering’ calls in which the visiting preaching promised people would have Cadillacs in their driveways if they gave a little more, I left and never went back. Sickening how they were preying on the poor. The reason I made the phone call is that, with the kind of rage Vaston was in that night, I thought he might come back up with a gun. Luckily, he just drove off in his nice Escalade, but I’d already called the police. I didn’t even know who he was at the time I called. I just knew he was crazy.”
The victim, Thomas Jackson, told the Hattiesburg Patriot, “He broke my microphone and stole my hat. – He seemed pretty violent- I never said ‘yes sir’ to that guy.” According to witnesses on the scene police took 10-15 minutes to respond, and no arrest has been made in the attack.
William Vaston Fairley (Hattiesburg) thinks the Hattiesburg Patriot is #1 in News Coverage.
Hattiesburg City Council President Kim Bradley sent a letter of request asking Attorney General Jim Hood to issue an opinion regarding the reappointment of three members of the previous, tainted Hattiesburg Municipal Election Commission. Those members are Daisy Lee Wade, Nina Arlington Smith and Mary Bourne. Mrs. Wade and Commissioner Cristy Thornton supported Dupree openly with signs in their yards and on Facebook. Read about that here. Daisy Lee Wade went so far as to say on camera, during the ballot counting process, that she was going to break into city hall that night where the ballots were. Video of that can be seen here. Amazingly, the front door was left open by City Clerk Eddie Myers that evening. Myers has since turned in a letter of resignation.
City attorney Charles Lawrence ordered a federal background check on a witness, Arthur Smith, who was subpoenaed to testify in Dave Ware's lawsuit against Mayor Johnny Dupree. Lawrence did so in anticipation of perjury which had not yet occurred.
In another example of Mayor Dupree’s bad hiring decisions, Dupree has hired Valerie Arnold to replace John Brown. However, Mrs. Arnold has serious issues with the IRS allegedly involving her husband’s medical practice and its related medicare and medicaid billing. Citizens have a right to know who is running or involved in our government, and this information is relevant, through transparency in our government, to understand the hiring mentality of our Mayor, and to demonstrate that he doesn’t consider these matters when hiring.
Click to enlarge Mayor’s Assistant Valerie Arnold’s tax liens.
Attorneys for Dave Ware have pulled out the nuclear option asking Judge Coleman to rule in his favor and uphold the jury’s original 9 to 3 verdict or to rule on the law and issue his own directed verdict in Ware’s Favor. Judge Coleman read the jury’s verdict, awarding the mayor’s race to Ware, but one female juror switched her vote after the judge polled the jurors in open court. Earlier in the day Dupree Attorney Jim Dukes gave an ominous closing statement addressing two Forrest General Employees, reminding them that he is the hospital’s legal counsel. Additionally Chief Deputy Charles “Plukey” Bolton, a close friend of Mr. Dukes also sits on the board of the hospital, stared at the jurors intensely during the public polling process.
Dupree’s group of pastorial supporters associated with the loosely based group Hattiesburg Ministerial Coalition are soliciting other black churches to raise $1000.00 for Dupree’s Legal Fund or Campaign Fund, depending on Judge Coleman’s ruling. They are preparing for a new election, but it is more likely that the judge will uphold and ratify the original verdict; especially with the specter of intimidation being a deciding factor for the deciding juror.
So far Sheriff Billy McGee has remained silent regarding his good friend and Chief Deputy. Forrest General Hospital continues to keep Chief Deputy Bolton on its board and Jim Dukes as legal council in spite of a public outcry on Facebook to remove these individuals from the position they allegedly abused to intimidate jurors. When the Hattiesburg Patriot called District Attorney Patricia Burchill and asked about the possible prosecution of election crimes, alleged witness retaliation by Chief Bolton, and attempted witness tampering, Burchill said, “There will be a thorough investigation into these matters.”
Readers who feel that Sheriff McGee and Forrest General Hospital should put Chief Deputy Charles Bolton or Jim Dukes Sr. on leave can contact the Forrest County Board of Supervisors at the following numbers:
Forrest County Sheriffs Department(601) 544-7800
Board of Supervisors:
David Hogan, District 1 (601) 545-6009
Charles Marshall, District 2 (601) 545-6010
Burkett Ross, District 3 (601) 545-6008 Rod Woullard, District 4 (601) 545-6011 <—-Don’t waste your time with this one. He’s part of the problem
Chris Bowen, District 5 (601) 545-6091
Forrest General President Evan Dillard 601-288-7000 (Randy Swan’s wife is the PR person for Forrest General Hospital. WDAM won’t cover this angle to the story as a result of that relationship)
District 4 County Supervisor Rod Woullard explains how he INNOCENTLY approached two jurors at lunch during the Ware vs Dupree trial. *Rod Woullard, Paster Ken Fairley, and Johnny Dupree went to school together and graduated from the same class.
After lunch today, Judge Coleman brought to light that he had been made aware of two jurors who had been approached during lunch by Dupree supporter and District 4 County Supervisor Ron Woullard. Judge Coleman questioned the jurors if such contact was trial related. Both said, “no”
After the trial finished today and most all of the media and onlookers had departed, Ware’s legal team asked the judge to reveal the identity of the supervisor and for the opportunity to question him about this contact. This contact is highly unprofessional for an elected official to engage.
Woullard was still in the building, and he was summoned by Judge Coleman to appear before him. The video of the encounter is below. In it he describes a wave he made to two jurors, but instead it looks like a signal of some kind. It’s almost as if he is signaling the numbers 10,20 with his hands. When the Judge Coleman dismissed him, Woullard approached Johnny Dupree and showed the mayor the same hand gestures, and mayor reacted in extreme frustration and demanded that HP stop filming. He then turned to the bailiff and ordered HP cameraman removed from the courtroom. The bailiff didn’t not act on Dupree’s orders. This is yet another example of how Mayor Dupree abuses his power to bully the little guy and to coverup corruption in his administration.
Click to enlarge. Judge Coleman caught napping during Dave Ware attorney’s examination of City Clerk Eddie Meyers.
We had a brief scare in Hattiesburg’s election trial today during the first day of witness testimony. The two most senior members of the cast were mistakenly thought deceased by some spectators. Dupree Attorney Jim Dukes was slumped over in his chair,eyes closed, hand still gripping his cane, and not moving for quite a while. Meanwhile the Honorable and very much alive Judge Coleman was caught napping during City Clerk Eddie Meyers’ testimony. Ware’s Attorney made a request of the judge with no reply. Then a second and third requests were made. Confused as to what to do, Ware’s legal team began reviewing the Rules for Civil Procedure to
Click to enlarge. Dupree Attorney Jim Dukes naps during City Clerk Eddie Meyers testimony.
determine the proper legal method for waking a sleeping judge. A bailiff rescued the court and woke Judge Coleman. Cheerfully he waved to the crowd, stood, and instructed the jury to stand as well. The courtroom burst into laughter and almost everyone stood and smiled, except for Mr. Dupree. Ware’s team could be heard after court discussing opportunities for opening sleep clinics around the state.
