LIBERTY — The trial of an Amite County man charged with murder in the shooting death of his father begins Sept. 21 in Amite County Circuit Court, despite the efforts of his attorney to have the indictment against him dismissed.
Judge Forrest Al Johnson denied several motions filed by Dennis Horn, the attorney for Minor Glynn Cupit, in a hearing Wednesday afternoon.
Cupit, 34, is accused of the July 30, 2009, shooting death of his father, Murray Glynn Cupit, at the mobile home they shared on Lower Liberty-Gloster Road.
Horn also filed motions asking Johnson to prohibit prosecutors from saying anything during the trial about Murray Cupit allegedly being shot in the back, and to call a special jury pool for the trial.
Johnson denied the first motion but approved the special jury pool and ordering Amite County Circuit Clerk Sharon Walsh to mail 200 jury summonses to county residents to try only Cupit’s case.
Horn’s motions involving the indictment centered on three issues which he said should result in the indictment bring dismissed.
Horn claimed that Cupit testified before the grand jury without signing a waiver of immunity.
“Usually that is given to the defendant and the defendant and his attorney review it before deciding if the defendant will testify,” Horn said.
Horn claimed the lack of the waiver was grounds for dismissing the indictment.
Judge Johnson acknowledged that Cupit’s appearance before the grand jury was unusual for a defendant, but he added that Horn was present when Cupit gave his statement, and dismissed the motion.
Horn’s supplemental motions to dismiss the indictment claimed prosecutorial misconduct, tampering with evidence and testimony that allegedly misled the grand jury, which resulted in Cupit’s indictment.
The claims involve several knives that were reportedly found by deputies in the living room area of the Cupits’ trailer and are the basis of Cupit’s claim of self-defense in the shooting.
According to Horn and court documents, Cupit claimed that his father went after him with a knife.
In one motion, Horn claims that sheriff’s deputies handled the knives at the scene, closing open pocket knives and putting them in a paper bag, making it difficult to get fingerprint and DNA evidence from the knives to determine if one was used by Cupit’s father.
The other motion involves grand jury testimony by sheriff’s investigator Danny Meaux.
Horn claimed Meaux told the grand jury that no knives were found in the trailer, but the photographs taken by Meaux at the scene show several open pocket knives, a shotgun and a rifle near Murray Cupit’s body in the living room area of the trailer.
Horn said Cupit identified one of the knives in the photographs as the one allegedly used by his father during the attack that led to the shooting.
Meaux’s testimony, Horn said, influenced the grand jury to indict Cupit.
During testimony, Horn’s investigator, Tommy Jackson, a retired Copiah County sheriff, said that Meaux, then-Chief Deputy Ray Austin and Sheriff Tim Perkins told him there were no knives at the scene.
Meaux and Austin both denied saying there were no knives or that the pocket knives were closed and on a table in the room. Although Perkins was subpoenaed, Horn did not call him to testify.
Meaux said he told the grand jury about the knives. He said he closed the pocket knives as a safety precaution before putting them in the evidence bag. He said he wore gloves when he handled the knives.
Johnson denied the motions, saying he could find no evidence that anyone tried to deliberately mislead or influence the grand jury.
The judge said testimony during the hearing indicated “very good cooperation and communication” between the sheriff’s department and Horn and his investigator.
Johnson also said the grand jury had access to some of the photos from the scene, adding that the photos showed the knives.
