Sheriff: Feared intimidation attempt now is dismissed
BATESVILLE, Miss. — Panola County Sheriff Dennis Darby said Thursday that what authorities initially feared might be an effort to intimidate a witness in the Quinton Tellis murder trial turned out to be a false alarm.
Darby said a person pursued by local law enforcement as court proceedings were still in progress Wednesday was someone known to local police, and they were confident he was not trying to intimidate the witness.
Observers in the courthouse Wednesday witnessed a number of law enforcement officials, in the courthouse for the trial, leaving hurriedly. They reportedly pursued a person on a motorcycle who was thought to be watching witness Sherry Rena Flowers as she left the courthouse after her testimony in the trial of Tellis for the 2014 burning death of Jessica Chambers.
Darby at the time said officers made what he characterized as a “traffic stop” of someone who might have been watching Flowers. He had no other details immediately.
Before court proceedings Thursday, Darby confirmed it was an individual well known locally but said there was no reason to believe he was attempting to intimidate anyone.
Court officers did, however, remove a couple of people from the courtroom Wednesday. Darby said they were observed making gestures, but he did not elaborate.
Security has been tight since testimony began Tuesday in the retrial of Tellis. His first trial last October, in the same courtroom, ended with a hung jury.