Judge delays ruling on expungement for New Albany man in attempted murder case
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Jul. 6—OXFORD — A Union County man will have to wait to have his record cleared after the state appealed his acquittal on an attempted murder charge in May.
Circuit Judge Kent Smith took the motion for expungement by Lane Mitchell under advisement Thursday afternoon, saying he wanted to make sure the record is preserved for the appeal before he makes a ruling.
More than two dozen witnesses testified during a four-day trial in May in New Albany. But before the case was presented to the jury, Circuit Judge Kent Smith dismissed the charge and entered a verbal order of acquittal.
By law, Mitchell is now entitled to an expungement, which would remove all records of his arrest and indictment, effectively restoring him to the status he held before.
In late June, the state of Mississippi gave notice it planned to appeal the acquittal and asked to delay the expungement. Jessica Malone with the Attorney General's Office said the motion for expungement "is premature and should be taken up on the appellate level."
She added that the destruction of all the records related to the case would impede the appeal.
"It is not our intent or desire to thwart the state's efforts to appeal," said defense attorney Victor Fleitas representing Mitchell.
He argued that the record of the case could be preserved and sent to the Mississippi Supreme Court so they could hear the appeal. Once that information was transmitted, local authorities could begin purging the record of Mitchell's arrest, indictment and trial.
"There is no reason why the sheriff's office should have a record of Mr. Mitchell," Fleitas said. "There is no reason why the police department should have records. The state's concerns should not force Mr. Mitchell to wait several years to have his name cleared."
Both parties and the court seemed to agree that the entire record of the proceedings against Mitchell should be preserved for the appeal. But that could take some time. More than 270 documents were filed during the court proceedings alone. Judge Smith noted that the full record would require the transcriptions of dozens of hearings by numerous court reporters. And two of the court reporters have since retired.
"I want to make sure the record is complete before I make a ruling," Judge Smith said.
Mitchell testified that he thought the suspect was going to attack his father in February 2019. He stabbed Russell Rogers in the neck with a bar knife, severing the man's carotid artery.
Despite nearly bleeding to death that night, the victim refused to take part in either the police investigation or the prosecution of Mitchell. The victim refused to respond to subpoenas by both the state and the defense to testify at the trial, leading the judge to dismiss the case.
An expungement would call for the records relating to Mitchell's arrest, indictment and journey through the legal system to be destroyed or sealed, making them unavailable to the general public. It would allow Mitchell to treat the event as if it never occurred. That would allow Mitchell to legally say he was never arrested or charged with the felony.
