First, this case is not about Judge Tomie Green. It is about the alleged probation violations of Frank Melton. Defendant Melton was convicted of three crimes. Although they were misdemeanors, they were still criminal convictions. I did not sentence him to jail. Instead, I placed him on intensive supervision (house arrest). Out of deference for the mayor, we did not make public the fact that he was on house arrest/wearing a leg anklet and had a curfew, along with other conditions. Also, we did not require drug and alcohol testing, all out of respect for him as mayor. I was careful to warn the mayor that if he violated the probation and bond conditions, he would be subject to serving six months in jail.
The law requires a probation officer to present an affidavit of alleged violations to the judge who presided over the trial. (That is why I transferred—not recused—the Melton/Recio/Wright cases but retained jurisdiction over Melton’s probation. No one objected.) After the probation officer presents the affidavit to the trial judge, the judge then must issue an arrest warrant to be executed by the sheriff. Once the defendant is arrested, a probation hearing is held to determine the validity of the violation. If the violations are not proven by the prosecutor (in this case, the attorney general), then defendant is returned to probation. If a violation is proven, the defendant is subject to serve a portion or all of his suspended time.
Secondly, neither I nor my staff removed any document from the court files. When I recognized the wrong order had been printed and no exhibits had been attached, I asked Barbara Dunn, the circuit clerk, about withdrawing it. She retrieved the order and gave it to my court administrator and crossed-out the order in the minute book. The order was still visible, yet Mrs. Dunn put the notation indicating that the order had been withdrawn at my request because of a major error. We followed the clerk’s directions to withdraw the order. The very next day, we filed a substitute order that had the very same ruling. There was no crime committed, and I take issue with Mrs. Dunn that such withdrawals have not happened like this before. For example, expungement of records happens quite often. We did not think anything of the withdrawal because even the Supreme Court withdraws orders and replaces them with new orders/opinions. Actually, the Supreme Court has withdrawn an order finding for one party, and when they re-file the order, they rule in favor of the opposite party.
— Hinds County Circuit Judge Tomie Green, Jackson
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