McComb attorney Robert Lenoir’s criminal trial set for next month has been delayed, as are all other proceedings in the case, as a motion seeking to quash his indictment and disqualify the judge and prosecutor gets referred to the Mississippi Supreme Court.
Judge Forrest “Al” Johnson on Tuesday denied a motion from Lenoir’s attorneys to disqualify himself and the special prosecutor, Forrest County District Attorney Lin Carter, based on a series of technicalities.
Lenoir’s attorneys had argued that initial orders for the recusals of circuit judge Michael Taylor and David Strong were improperly filed, which they claimed led to mounting procedural miscues and ultimately a flawed indictment.
“I feel that this court was properly appointed to hear this matter prior to indictment and subsequent to the indictment, and this court had the authority to name the special prosecutor,” Johnson said in denying the motion.
However, he agreed that the Mississippi Supreme Court should weigh in on the issue before anything else happens with the case.
It’s unclear how long that could take.
Lenoir is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Wendy McMahan, aka Wendy Dansby, whose body was found inside his residence on March 29, 2021.
He was indicted more than a year later, on April 16, 2022, on that charge plus two counts of possession of a controlled substance. Other counts included tampering with evidence, child endangerment, felony child abuse and tampering with a witness.
Taylor and Strong recused themselves from the case, as did District Attorney Dee Bates, and the judges appointed Johnson — a former circuit judge in Amite, Franklin, Wilkinson and Adams counties — to hear the case.
Lenoir’s attorneys, Ronnie Whittington and Tom Fortner, argued in a motion filed last month that court orders for the judge’s recusals weren’t filed until after Johnson had already decided on matters in the case, including Carter’s appointment. That means Johnson was making decisions about a case he had no authority to hear, they argued.
Plus, the order for Carter’s appointment was filed two days before Lenoir’s indictment was returned. Defense attorneys argue that sets up a timeline that suggests Carter’s appointment had not been official, which means the prosecutor should not have presented the case to the grand jury and the indictment should be quashed.
“These are very serious issues raised by the defendants’ motion,” Johnson said. “The court has very carefully considered the defendant’s motion. The court is going to deny the defendant’s motion to disqualify the judge, myself, and to quash the indictment.”
In denying the motion on all grounds, Johnson noted that the defense has 21 days to appeal to the Mississippi Supreme Court.
“I will state on the record at this time that I will agree with this motion that the Mississippi Supreme Court needs to speak to this matter,” he said.
Johnson said he’ll stay any further proceedings in the case until the Supreme Court rules.
The trial, which had been scheduled for Nov. 13 in Natchez, is continued in the meantime.
“We need to get this resolved,” Johnson said.
