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 to receive and manage the large volume of discovery. Considering the volume and nature of discovery, and the challenges inherent to managing it, the Defense estimates that it will require several months from the time the Government produces discovery to prepare for trial.”
Owens, the district attorney, is accused of steering tens of thousands of dollars in bribes to the aforementioned city officials — and using colorful language while allowing hubris to cloud his better judgment. Owens dismissed the charges levied against him and contended that prosecutors were using “cherry-picked statements of drunken locker-room banter” against him.
Lumumba, the mayor, is said to have taken $50,000 in bribe checks from the developers to exert his influence and take official action regarding the scheduling of a city council vote on the proposed convention center complex project.
According to court documents, the bribe payments to Lumumba were concealed as five $10,000 campaign-donation checks from third-party entities and individuals, including Owens. Lumumba initially downplayed that he had not filed a campaign finance report in over two years before changing his tune and last week saying he cannot disclose his campaign finances because they are under review in the FBI’s assessment.
Lumumba has also tried to brand himself a martyr in the case and has lambasted the charges against him as a form of “political prosecution.”
Banks, the councilman who allegedly tried to squeeze $50,000 in bribes for his vote on the real estate project, received $10,000 in cash, along with a promise to provide funding for the employment of a family member and a protective detail service, per court records.
A judge has not yet ruled whether or not the trial will be delayed.
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