Lee County inmate asks federal judge for transfer, relief
Jan. 8—TUPELO — A Tupelo man, held without bond after threatening a city code enforcement employee in an irate, profanity-filled call last summer, is asking a federal judge for relief.
Michael Robert Cox, 36, has filed a writ of habeas corpus in U.S. District Court complaining about the conditions at the Lee County Jail and his treatment by the jail staff. Although incarcerated in Tupelo in the federal Northern District of Mississippi, Cox mailed the petition to the south district federal court clerk in Hattiesburg.
Cox claims the problems began in the first month of his incarceration when jailers reportedly overcharged his canteen account. When he filed a grievance, he said corrections officers retaliated by putting him in lock-up, suspending his canteen and suspending or limiting the number of visits from his wife. The staff retaliation included treating him "unequal to every other inmate" Cox alleges.
He asked the judge to reprimand the Lee County Sheriff's Office and jail staff, restore his privileges and move him to a different jail, suggesting Pontotoc County. In the handwritten court document, Cox claims that Pontotoc County Sheriff Leo Mask is willing to house him.
The case was filed in the Hattiesburg federal court on October 13, 2023. When Cox failed to pay the filing fee or submit the form to proceed as a pauper, it was about to be thrown out in December.
When he complied, Cox alleged that the form had been removed from his mail by the jail staff who "have complete control over all my messages, letters coming and going as well as my phone call privileges." He reiterated his desire for the federal court to take "immediate emergency action" to move him to another facility.
"The Lee County Jail and its staff feel they are above the law and have remained unchecked in their actions and illegal affairs," Cox said.
On Friday, Jan. 5, the case was transferred to the Aberdeen district and assigned to Judge Sharion Aycock.
Last summer, Cox was free on bond, indicted on two counts of sexual battery of a minor and one felony count of trying to get the 16-year-old girl to take nude pictures. When a city code worker said the grass in Cox's Arlington Drive yard was too tall and needed to be cut for the third time in less than two months, Cox became irate.
Cox left an angry voicemail on the worker's phone, threatening to take legal action for harassment. But he went one step further. At the end of the message he said, "Stay the (expletive) off my property or I'll shoot your (expletive) a — next time."
That led to Cox being arrested and charged with retaliation against a public servant, a Class 2 felony that carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Since he was out on bond at the time, the district attorney's office filed a motion to revoke the bond on the three sexual charges.
Circuit Judge John White said since the comments were made to a city official about city business, he had no choice but to revoke the bond. That means Cox will have to remain in jail until the case goes to trial. The state case has been continued, and a trial date has not been set.
