Smith was charged by affidavit with six counts of illegally counseling criminal defendants. This is a violation to Mississippi Statute 97-11-3. Smith has not yet responded publicly to the charges. Hinds County Judge Melvin Priester signed the affidavit. It was prepared by Leland McDivitt (Attorney General’s Criminal Investigator), who cited Smith’s actions and the cases of Darnell Turner, Christopher Butler, as reasons for Smith’s arrest. This affidavit refers to several documents that are related to the underlying criminal cases. Documents show that Turner’s attorney raised concerns about the propriety and ethics of conversations between the Attorney General’s office, Circuit Judge Jeff Weill, in the Turner case. Documents also reveal that Smith protested against plans to allow the attorney general’s office to present information to a Hinds County Grand jury. According to the documents, Turner’s attorney Dennis Sweet III asked Weill’s Court to open a file in Turner’s case as well as any communications between Weill, Weill, and Weill’s offices that Sweet should have known about. Sweet requested the court to unseal a file in Turner’s case and any communications between Weill’s office, Weill, and the Attorney General’s offices. Sweet claims that Smith, who once represented Turner in private practice, has been the target of the investigation. Sweet’s motion to unseal papers states that “it appears that the court got involved in Turner’s prosecution by demanding that a Grand Jury be held for him to present matters relating thereto.” Sweet objected that Turner and he were denied access to emails between the court and the circuit clerk and the offices the district attorney, the Attorney General, and other parties. Sweet’s motion refers to an email chain that runs from Stan Alexander, Attorney General’s Office, to Kate Steiner, Weill’s Law Clerk, and Smith. It starts at 10:24 AM on April 5, 2016. Smith has a copy. I’m not sure if they’ll be done with their other cases by Thursday, and I don’t want them prematurely dismissed. Weill signed a sealed order attached to the email. Two days of emails by Smith show that he argued in emails that the court “CANNOT” tell his office to convene an Attorney General’s special grand jury. The sealed order of Weill pertains to “sealed case number 251-16-122,” which is listed in the court docket under misdemeanor traffic violations and aggravated assault charges against Landon James Veal (32), 4110 W. Capital St. Jackson. Veal is still in the Hinds County Jail. Attorney Sweet asked that Turner’s case is dismissed. He wrote, “It’s clear that neither this Court nor the Attorney General have the authority to initiate and intervene in local crime action which involves authority of the District Attorney.” He also cited the Mississippi Supreme Court decision Williams, where the court ruled that neither the state’s Constitution nor its common law allows “involuntary dismissal” of a district lawyer or “substitution” of an attorney general to his place when there are no legal grounds for such action. Sweet doesn’t say how he obtained the emails. He states that “ex parte communication” between the Attorney General’s Office and the court without the presence of defense counsel violates Turner’s constitutional rights. His motion to the court to dismiss Turner’s April 7th, 2014 indictment states that “it is evident there was some kind of communication between Court and Attorney General’s Office”. Smith also defends Christopher Butler as a private lawyer in the second case against Smith. Although the court docket does not contain any information about Butler’s case it does show that Priester decided on March 15 to delay deciding whether he would dismiss the charges and release Butler. The order’s second paragraph says: “Because the raucous, unprofessional behavior of Mr. Smith (District Attorney), this matter was continued” and was rescheduled for March 17. According to documents, Smith sent a letter to Sanford Knott on March 21 stating that he would file a contempt motion against two assistant lawyers general. Smith claims that the Attorney General failed to present evidence at Butler’s preliminary hearing and that it “influenced his bond to being set at a high unreasonable amount.” The documents show that Smith sent a letter to Sanford Knott, Butler’s attorney, on March 21st, stating his intention to file a contempt of court motion against two assistant attorneys general. To support this work, make a regular donation to the organization today as part of the Spring Member Drive.