Policeman committed no crime, jury says|[6/15/06]
Published 12:00 am Thursday, June 15, 2006
Jurors freed an accused police officer Wednesday, ruling after a day of testimony that his sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student while he was assigned to Vicksburg High did not amount to a criminal act under state law.
Anthony Lane, 29, was found innocent of sexual battery by a Warren County Circuit Court jury of four men and eight women who deliberated for about three hours.
Judge Isadore Patrick read the verdict about 3 p.m., prompting joyful shouts from spectators seated behind Lane, who turned to hush them. A conviction could have resulted in a 30-year prison term.
The officer has been on administrative leave without pay for nearly 11 months. His attorney, Ramel Cotton, said a decision on whether to seek reinstatement would be made soon. There was no indication whether back pay would be sought.
Associate City Attorney Walterine Langford said the city board, Police Chief Tommy Moffett and Human Resources Director Lamar Horton would meet to act on a request if presented.
The case centered on a state law that defines sexual battery to include an adult having sex with a 16- or 17-year-old if the adult is in a “position of trust or authority.” It lists 16 roles, but doesn’t include “police officer.”
“Whether a person is in a position of trust or authority is determined by the factual situation,” Assistant District Attorney John Bullard told jurors.
An opinion letter from Attorney General Jim Hood, requested by District Attorney Gil Martin, said the same thing and sparked the prosecution. Moffett had suspended Lane for 20 days after an internal investigation, but maintained and testified the statute didn’t apply.
That drew sharp criticism from Bullard in his closing argument to jurors and a sharp reply, out of court, from Moffett.
“Of course, Chief Moffett said that,” Bullard said. “He’s the one that put the fox in charge of the henhouse.” The police department assigns uniformed officers to schools for regular duty during school days and calls them resource officers.
Moffett said he did not believe Bullard’s statement was appropriate “insofar as I took it as blaming me. I think it lends to the character of John Bullard – the fact of blaming me for his inadequacies,” Moffett said.
Both Bullard and Moffett said the Legislature should revisit the statute and add “police officer” to roles listed. Moffett has consistently called what Lane did absolutely wrong, but not illegal.
Cotton, who called no witnesses, was persuasive in saying no state witness, including the teen who said she invited Lane to her mother’s house for sexual encounters for more than a month in the summer of 2004, testified Lane was “in a position of trust or authority.” He also stressed the statute.
“They took the time to go through and outline 16 positions,” Cotton said of lawmakers. “Nothing in there is even remotely close to a law-enforcement officer.”
Bullard closed his argument by stressing the jury’s role. “I don’t care what Chief Moffett’s opinion is,” he said. “You decide. You decide the standard. You will decide what is acceptable.”
And after the trial Bullard also said he thought the opinion Moffett gave reflected the opinion of most law-enforcement officers in the county or that of the community at large.
“I don’t like the message that that sends to the community,” Bullard said.
Wednesday’s verdict sharply changes the outlook for Bobby Jones, 32, the second VPD officer indicted for sexual battery with the teen. Jones was in the courtroom for most of the two-day trial and has also been on administrative leave.
He was not assigned to Vicksburg High and, after the internal investigation, was not disciplined by Moffett. Bullard said prosecutors will re-evaluate the case against Jones and a new trial date for him will be set.