BROOKHAVEN — Circuit Judge David Strong denied McComb Mayor Zach Patterson’s motion Tuesday for the judge to recuse himself in the mayor’s lawsuit against McComb Police Chief Greg Martin. Without knowing the outcome of the hearing, Patterson revived his “mayor’s chat” for the first time in more than a year Tuesday, using it as a forum to denounce the handling of city-related cases.
Strong also denied Patterson’s motion for continuance in the case, which had been requested by the mayor’s attorney, Charles Miller of McComb, who said he needed more time to prepare.
The judge also modified a motion to compel that he granted last week.
Miller argued that in past dealings with the mayor, Strong “did suggest that the problems brought about were the mayor’s problems — issues related to the mayor,” and that Strong should recuse himself.
He referred to an earlier decision in which Strong ruled in favor of Patterson when he said Martin did not enjoy civil service protection.
“No doubt that the court made the proper decision in the case,” Miller said. “However, the court’s comments concerning the mayor were not proper, and it showed some bias.”
Miller said he couldn’t remember verbatim what Strong said.
Miller also said Strong’s upcoming election may lead him to have bias against Patterson. Strong was quick to point out that he is running unopposed for his position. With the qualifying deadline passed, there is no reason for the election to influence his decision in the case, the judge said.
Strong pointed out that after the city board appointed Martin to replace Mark Anderson as police chief, he was again asked to rule on the top spot in the McComb Police Department.
Strong upheld Martin’s reinstatement. Both decisions came down in March 2009.
“I made some comments, directed to the mayor and city board, that I didn’t want to go over the city of McComb,” Strong said. “In a short period of time, I’d been required on two separate occasions to rule on (extraordinary relief) motions with regard to who was going to be police chief. I do believe that was the time that I used the word absurd in reference to the proceedings themselves. It was general comment concerning the state of government affairs as they existed at the time in the city of McComb.”
Strong asked Miller why he waited more than a year to submit the motion to recuse. Miller said the request was spurred by Strong’s approval of a motion to compel submitted by Martin’s attorney, John Ott of McComb. That motion ordered Patterson to respond to Martin’s requests for certain information within five days, including Patterson’s discharge from the U.S. Army; the names, addresses and telephone numbers of the mothers of his children; and Patterson’s net worth on April 1, 2009.
Miller said he did not know about the hearing until the day after it was held, and Strong said that Tuesday was the first time he heard that Miller was unaware of last week’s hearing.
In a response to Miller’s motions filed Tuesday morning, Ott attached a copy of a letter dated May 19 informing Miller of the hearing. He also included a May 17 letter asking Miller if he would be available June 2 or 3 for the motion to compel hearing.
The motion to compel was revisited Tuesday, and Strong said that Patterson did not have to answer the question about the mothers of his children, but he will have to answer the other two by noon Thursday.
In denying the motion to recuse himself, Strong cited a lack of evidence in the public record indicating his bias toward Patterson and the tardiness of Miller’s motion for recusal, which is supposed to be filed within 30 days after a case is assigned to a judge. Strong has dealt with this case since last spring.
Strong also denied the motion for continuance, saying “This is a case that needs to be resolved. I don’t care what the resolution is, but it needs to be resolved.”
The case will go to trial at 9 a.m. June 15 in Pike County Circuit Court.
MAYOR REVIVES CHAT
Following Tuesday’s hour-long city board meeting, the mayor held an 80-minute “mayor’s chat” at city hall — the first in more than a year — to address questions surrounding his lawsuit against Martin, as well as his lawsuit against the board of selectmen regarding a special called meeting in June to sign city workers’ paychecks.
It was the mayor’s first chat since May 26, 2009.
“The chats didn’t end,” Patterson said. “I decided to take the battle to court. But nothing happens unless you do something.”
About four hours after the hearing in Brookhaven ended, Patterson told a partisan crowd he had not talked with Miller about the hearing’s outcome. He said that, based on subpoenas given to selectmen, he assumed the motion of continuance was denied.
A key issue Patterson referred to was Strong’s decision to grant the motion to compel. The mayor said if he knew of the hearing, he would’ve realized that his absence was grounds for contempt of court, and an attempt should have been made to reach him on his cellphone.
“I have a problem with the mayor of this city being treated unfairly,” Patterson said. “I asked Judge Strong to step aside a year ago. He lectured me from the bench.”
Patterson said he also believed Strong should step away from the case because he once practiced law with city board attorney Wayne Dowdy.
Patterson criticized the Enterprise-Journal for its quickness in producing the details of the motion to compel and listing the questions proposed by the motion to compel in boldface, contrasted with the plain text contained within the rest of the article.
“Notice how they get the questions in bold?” Patterson asked. “That’s a message. That’s a message to intimidate.”
Mississippi Tribune reporter Marka McInnis — the paper’s first reporter to sit at the press table since co-publisher Anthony Witherspoon assumed the seat at the board’s May 11 meeting — told Patterson that she felt those questions bordered on harassment.
Patterson said the questions were emblematic of the unfair price justice requires.
“The price they say you must pay is to stand naked in front of them,” the mayor said. “Well let’s get it all out there. Let’s see how many DUIs and incidents of deviant behavior there are. If that’s the way you want to roll, then let’s roll.”
The case against the selectmen touched off Patterson’s chat as he wondered aloud why it has taken Judge Mike Taylor more than two months to issue his verdict. He also expressed concern over the consolidation of that case with a 2008 lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment to clarify sections of the city charter concerning his authority as mayor.
“I was simply asking for an interpretation of the special called meeting,” Patterson said. “I don’t know of a capital murder trial that’s taken seven months.
“Where’s the public’s outcry, where’s the citizens’ outcry?” the mayor continued. “Where’s the outcry from everyone in the legal system?”
The mayor criticized the Mississippi court system, saying that, in the past, nothing ever worked without channeling the court system.
“The history in Mississippi is that you don’t get justice,” Patterson said. “It makes me question how much fairness, justice and fair play is gotten from these lawyers.”
