July 30, 2020 On July 14, the day that William Haymon turned 16, he spent his 511th day in jail. Since February 2019, he has been held without bail at the Holmes-Humphreys Regional Prisonal Facility. This is an adult jail located in rural Lexington, Mississippi. Prosecutors have not yet presented charges to a grand jury to determine if there is enough evidence to convict him. This has been going on for 17 months. According to Akillie Malone Oliver, the local district attorney who is prosecuting the 21st judicial state, this delay is due in large part to turnover within the city’s police department that is investigating these charges. However, Haymon’s lengthy imprisonment is indicative of a bigger issue facing Mississippians arrested. There are no guidelines regarding how long someone can remain in prison without being charged. People can spend months or even years in prison before being formally charged. Lawrence Blackmon, Haymon’s lawyer, tried to get his client released by claiming that Haymon is being illegally held in county jail and that he has been denied his constitutional right of a speedy trial. Haymon’s confinement has been justified by Malone-Oliver as a way to self-improvement. However, Blackmon argues that Haymon is not attending school and will suffer the same long-term harm as a child from his time in jail. These arguments have not succeeded in securing Haymon’s release. Sebrenda Tillman Haymon’s mother told The Appeal that it was taking Haymon’s childhood away. “As long he’s been there for, what are your holding him for?” Haymon was 13 years old when he was charged with armed robbery for allegedly stealing at gunpoint from an elderly man. After waiving a preliminary hearing, Haymon was released quickly on a $25,000 bond. In February 2019, Haymon was charged with aggravated assault, which involved a gun and another teenager. The earlier charge of aggravated assault was dropped because Haymon was already on bond for armed theft when he was taken into custody. He was not eligible for bail again under state law. Blackmon is a private practitioner, but he agreed to represent Haymon pro bono when the public defender assigned to Haymon’s aggravated assault case was killed in January. Blackmon stated that Haymon was not visited by the public defender during the first year of his incarceration. Blackmon took over the case and filed a habeas corpus petition alleging Haymon is being unlawfully held. Another motion was filed to release Haymon since he has been denied his Sixth Amendment rights for a speedy trial. A prosecutor claimed that Haymon was held in prison for so long due to “turnover” by Durant Police Department police chiefs and investigators. The role of Haymon’s investigator was taken over by an investigator last summer. She testified that she hadn’t looked into the charges. Although Haymon was first arrested, she has only presented to the grand juries once. Circuit Court Judge Jannie Blackmon, who is not related to Haymon’s lawyer, ruled that Haymon’s right to a speedy trial was not violated despite evidence that Haymon had been detained for several months without any movement on his case. According to a transcript of proceedings, she said that the reason for Haymon’s delay “outweighs its length.” She also denied Haymon’s unlawful detention under habeas corpus. Lawrence Blackmon argued that Haymon is being held illegally under habeas corpus because the accused in the armed theft case has died making it hard to get an indictment. He said that even if the DA had interviewed the witness, it would be difficult to get a conviction. According to him, Haymon’s accuser in the aggravated attack has not been interviewed since the day the crime occurred and he does not wish to face charges. Malone-Oliver spoke out in a telephone interview to The Appeal and defended her decision not to release Haymon. She called him “a menace” and stated that he had a long record in the state’s child legal system (information about those cases is confidential). She could have used her discretion to press Haymon’s release but she blamed Haymons extended imprisonment on the judge who has ruled against him so far and other community members who, she claims, called her asking her to not release Haymon. She said that she was worried that Haymon would be a criminal if he were to get out and inflict another person. When asked if she’d considered the impact of imprisonment on children, she replied, “I hope he will become a better person.” That is what I wish for all the defendants. “I hope they will do better, and I worry about what this has on people that were affected,” she stated. The grand jury meets twice per year in Malone-Oliver district. Haymon’s case was to be presented to a grand jury that had been convened in June. However, that meeting was cancelled due to the COVID-19 epidemic. Although she stated that the case will be presented to the next grand jury, which is expected to meet “soon”, she also acknowledged that this was dependent on the coronavirus. Blackmon of Malone – Oliver stated that the district attorney is the highest ranking law enforcement officer in the district. “So they’ve made every excuse possible over the course to this fight for this kid’s liberty,” he said. “He has not received any education, he was locked up with adults fighting adults,” he continued. “This is a case for child abuse at this point,” Haymon said. Haymon’s stalled case is due to several problems in the state’s criminal justice system. Mississippi has a time limit between indictment or trial. However, prosecutors have unlimited time to file an indictment after an arrest. This can sometimes leave people in jail for many years. In Louisiana, prosecutors have a 60-day deadline to indict a person who is being held on a felony conviction. The person could be eligible for release if the deadline is not met. The federal system has a deadline of 30 days. Advocates from the MacArthur Justice Center proposed to Mississippi legislators in 2016 when the Supreme Court was reviewing its Rules of Criminal Procedure. They suggested that the state adopt a rule that states must dismiss charges if a grand jury doesn’t return an accusation within 90 days. It was not adopted. This issue was also the subject of a federal civil rights lawsuit that was filed in 2014 by the MacArthur Justice Center, American Civil Liberties Union and Scott County, Mississippi. The complaint states that one man was held for 16 months prior to his indictment, but he never went to trial. He was again arrested and kept for almost a year, waiting for the grand jury to present his case. The sheriff released him immediately without giving him a hearing. According to the lawsuit, another man was kept in jail for eight months without being indicted. The lawsuit was settled in 2017. While the county agreed to make changes to its bail system and public defense system, no new rules were made regarding extended detention without a grand jury hearing. Holmes County is where Haymon is held. It is one of the most notorious prisons in the state. According to December 2019 data, a database that tracks lengths of Mississippi jail stays shows that Holmes residents were held for 417 days on average. The Appeal was informed by Andre De Gruy, the state public defender. He said that it will take more than just introducing deadlines to solve the problem. The state must improve its defense system for those who can’t afford lawyers, he said. Because there are no standards in place for public defense systems, rural counties often turn to private contract lawyers who are chosen by a judge. They are often often overwhelmed. De Gruy stated that the biggest problem is not having qualified lawyers with sufficient caseloads and resources to help clients. Children who are able to go through the state’s youth system often end up in the adult system. Crucially, defense attorneys do not receive evidence against their client, such as police reports and interviews–information they could use to show he or she should be tried as a child, until after their client is indicted. However, a child who is indicted as an adult will be bound to remain in the adult system. Haymon’s alleged crimes were what made him eligible to be indicted as an adult. Paloma Wu from the Mississippi Center for Justice was the deputy director for Impact Litigation. She told The Appeal Haymon is one of many in the same situation. She said, “It’s not falling through cracks, that is an inaccurate way of talking about this case.” “This is not an exception to the rule. This is the rule. These are the Mississippi criminal rules that work as they should.” Blackmon plans to appeal the habeas decision to Mississippi Supreme Court. Haymon is unlawfully being held. Because Haymon was under 18 at the time of his arrest, he could file for Haymon’s transfer to the youth court system. Haymon could spend the rest of his life in prison if Malone-Oliver is convicted on the armed theft charge. His mother Tillman said that her son described the conditions in jail as “rough”. Haymon was incarcerated when he got into an altercation early in his time. He has since been transferred to another section of the jail where he is surrounded by people who are closer to him and have agreed to take care of him. She said that Haymon is trying to keep up. Tillman has not been able to visit Haymon since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but she talks to him regularly on the phone. She said that she would usually take Haymon to dinner for Haymon’s birthday. Instead, she spent the past two years putting money in Haymon’s books to buy food at the canteen. She said, “I worry about my baby, some nights I can’t sleep because of him.”