Crossing the Line

The saga of former Southaven mayor Greg Davis continues as Mississippi Court of Appeals overturns his conviction on felony embezzlement and fraud charges.

You remember Greg Davis, right?

The former Southaven mayor’s legal woes have kept him in the news for several years, and last week’s Mississippi Court of Appeals ruling overturning his conviction on felony embezzlement and fraud charges means he’ll stay firmly planted in the headlines for awhile longer.

The court said Davis should have been granted a change of venue in his 2014 trial in DeSoto County Circuit Court because he couldn’t get an impartial jury due to all the publicity surrounding his case. As a result, Davis’ attorney, Steve Farese, will have a sit-down with Prosecutor John Champion to either decide on a new location to retry the case or, as Farese hopes, find middle ground that will allow the case to go away.

Champion sounded pretty adamant last week that the case will be retried, but Farese understands that Champion is a busy man. Farese pointed out that Champion also has the highprofile Jessica Chambers murder case on his plate, and Davis’ counsel may be hoping Champion will find it more practical to settle.

“This case involves, at most, $20,000,” Farese said in some media accounts after last week’s ruling. “These cases are pled out every day for probation.”

If Champion does insist on retrying, Farese wants to get as far away from DeSoto County as possible. Mississippi’s Gulf Coast strikes him as a good place to escape media spotlights on Davis in both Memphis and Jackson.

Whatever happens, Greg Davis’ legal saga — the appeals decision didn’t affect a civil order to repay more than $70,000 to Southaven — will be with us for at least a bit longer.

More on religious freeDoM

Speaking of topics that won’t go away, Mississippi’s much-debated “Religious Freedom” law is still on the radar.

A federal judge declared it unconstitutional and Mississippi’s attorney general refused to appeal, but that didn’t stop Gov. Phil Bryant from appealing on his own.

In response to that appeal — or more specifically, a request that an injunction against the law’s implementation be lifted pending the appeal — opponents last week filed additional documentation to bolster their support of the ruling that it’s unconstitutional.

The most interesting thing about the documents filed with the U.S. District Court was the behind-the-scenes look they offered at how the law came about. It was clear that out-ofstate backers offered support and advice on the law’s implementation. That fact isn’t necessarily unusual, but it is interesting since “out-of-state agitators” have in the past been cited negatively for their involvement in other causes.

It seems unlikely the court would agree to lift the injunction pending the appeal, since allowing a potentially unconstitutional law to take effect while its legal status is still under debate would be unusual. Maintaining the status quo, as critics of the law put it, is the more common path in these situations.

But as in the Davis case, where the reversal of his conviction caught many observers by surprise, it’s hard to predict what the court will do in this one as well. In any event, it looks like this is another case that will be with us for awhile.

froM protest to hugs

A potentially tense situation in Southaven ended with lots of hugging at the beginning of last week. This all went down a little too late to get in last Monday’s Crossing the Line column, but it merits taking a look back.

A heavy law enforcement contingent massed at Landers Center Sunday morning, July 17, in anticipation of a rumored Black Lives Matter protest at Tanger Factory Outlets. Even though protesters have conducted themselves peacefully at Memphis gatherings, police were prepared for a possible confrontation since no one had requested a permit to hold a demonstration.

The event never materialized, but an impromptu confrontation of sorts did take shape a few miles away at the Southaven Police Department. About a dozen people, mostly white but also some black, showed up at the department to express their appreciation to police, including giving heartfelt hugs.

The gathering struck a chord with many, so it seemed only appropriate to give it another mention for anyone who missed it.