Mississippi Today
Did Rankin sheriff play a role in ex-Capitol police officer’s DUI acquittal? Authorities want to know.
Two state officials confirmed to Mississippi Today that state and federal authorities are examining what role, if any, Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey played in the August acquittal of former Capitol Police officer Steven Frederick for DUI.
The sheriff is already under scrutiny with regard to the self-described “Goon Squad” inside his department. Five former deputies and a Richland police officer have already pleaded guilty to the Jan. 24 attack on two Black men, which included a warrantless forced entry, torturing and sexually abusing suspects, using “clean” thrown down weapons, planting evidence, beating suspects to coerce confessions, stealing property, conspiring to create cover stories and obstructing justice. Sentencing is set for federal court in January.
On March 12, Frederick, who has been dating Bailey's daughter, was charged with driving under the influence after crashing a state-owned Mississippi Department of Public Safety vehicle. A diagram shows he ran over three road signs before stopping in a concrete ditch.
After a breathalyzer test, the trooper said over the radio that Frederick had a blood alcohol level of 0.15, nearly twice the legal limit of 0.08, according to the Mississippi Highway Patrol video. The ticket listed the level as 0.12.
“Twelve years of my life gone over one stupid mistake,” Frederick told the trooper. “I just lost my f—ing career, man.”
He initially told the trooper he was “trying to clear my head” and had only two beers, but he later admitted he had been drinking liquor, according to Highway Patrol videos obtained by the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting, now part of Mississippi Today.
Frederick arrived at the Covington County Jail at 11:49 p.m. Less than an hour later, Covington County Sheriff Darrell M. Perkins ordered Frederick released without bond.
“I released him to Bryan Bailey,” Perkins said. “He told me he carried him [Frederick] to the hospital. He was bruised up.”
At the scene, Frederick had refused medical treatment, according to the Highway Patrol video.
Authorities have learned that after the accident, Bailey contacted a prosecutor, asking what would happen if a trooper didn't appear for a DUI hearing. The prosecutor replied that, if the trooper failed to appear, the case would be dismissed.
That's exactly what happened on Aug. 9. Trooper Daniel Loftin failed to appear, and Covington County Justice Court Judge Bobby Wayne Mooney dismissed the case.
Loftin was one of four troopers scheduled for that day in justice court. He was the only one who didn't appear.
Historically, courts subpoena witnesses so that they will appear to testify, but in more recent years, some courts use email to deliver these subpoenas.
On Aug. 3, Justice Court Clerk Cassidy Booker emailed Troop J Capt. Claude Smith of the Mississippi Highway Patrol, asking him to make sure Loftin and three other troopers appeared at 8:30 a.m. Aug. 9.
MCIR has obtained the email exchanges between Smith and the other troopers. The records show that Smith emailed Loftin about appearing in court and that Loftin received the email.
Neither Loftin nor Sheriff Bailey have responded to requests for comment.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
On this day in 1896
MAY 18, 1896
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-1 in Plessy v. Ferguson that racial segregation on railroads or similar public places was constitutional, forging the “separate but equal” doctrine that remained in place until 1954.
In his dissent that would foreshadow the ruling six decades later in Brown v. Board of Education, Justice John Marshall Harlan wrote that “separate but equal” rail cars were aimed at discriminating against Black Americans.
“In the view of the Constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens,” he wrote. “Our Constitution in color-blind and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law. The humblest is the peer of the most powerful. The law … takes no account of his surroundings or of his color when his civil rights as guaranteed by the supreme law of the land are involved.”
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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Mississippi Today
Renada Stovall, chemist and entrepreneur
Renada Stovall sat on the back deck of her rural Arkansas home one evening, contemplating life when she had a life-altering epiphany…
“I gotta get out of these woods.”
She heard it as clear as lips to her ear and as deep as the trees surrounding her property. Stovall's job as a chemist had taken her all over the country. In addition to Arkansas, there were stints in Atlanta, Dallas and Reno. But she was missing home, her parents and friends. She also knew, she needed something else to do.
“I thought, what kind of business can I start for myself,” said Stovall, as she watered herbs growing in a garden behind her south Jackson home. Some of those herbs are used in her all-natural products. “I know when I lived in Reno, Nevada, where it's very hot and very dry, there really weren't products available that worked for me, my hair, and my skin suffered. I've got a chemistry degree from Spelman College. I took the plunge and decided to create products for myself.”
In 2018, Stovall's venture led to the creation of shea butter moisturizers and natural soaps. But she didn't stop there, and in December 2022, she moved home to Mississippi and got to work, expanding her product line to include body balms and butters, and shampoos infused with avocado and palm, mango butter, coconut and olive oils.
Nadabutter, which incorporates Renada's name, came to fruition.
Stovall sells her balms and moisturizers at what she calls, “pop-up markets,” across the state during the summer. She's available via social media and also creates products depending on what of her ingredients a customer chooses. “My turmeric and honey is really popular,” Stovall added.
“The all-natural ingredients I use are great for conditioning the skin and hair. All of my products make you feel soft and luscious. The shea butter I use comes from West Africa. It's my way of networking and supporting other women. And it's my wish that other women can be inspired to be self-sufficient in starting their own businesses.”
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
On this day in 1954
MAY 17, 1954
In Brown v. Board of Education and Bolling v. Sharpe, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the “separate but equal” doctrine in Plessy v. Ferguson was unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed equal treatment under the law.
The historic decision brought an end to federal tolerance of racial segregation, ruling in the case of student Linda Brown, who was denied admission to her local elementary school in Topeka, Kansas, because of the color of her skin.
In Mississippi, segregationist leaders called the day “Black Monday” and took up the charge of the just-created white Citizens' Council to preserve racial segregation at all costs.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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