Simpson: Manieri sentence worked out behind closed doors

Jerry Mitchell has a story today on the Jeremy Wayne Manieri story that brings up even more questions.  First, Mitchell details the missteps along the way by MDOC, who apparently failed to recognize that Manieri wasn't reporting or paying restitution any longer.  Then Mitchell gets quotes from Republican Attorney General nominee Stephen Simpson:

Simpson, then a circuit judge, said he gave Manieri one year in prison and one year suspended as part of an "open plea" in which the prosecution makes no recommendation. But behind closed doors, the prosecutor and defense attorney had worked out the sentence, he said.

Simpson goes on to detail the problems the prosecution had with their case, which is interesting, since just the other day the AP said:

Simpson said prosecutors reached a plea agreement in the case, so he didn’t have access to the evidence and based the sentence on the prosecuting attorney’s recommendation.

“I was given no reason by the prosecution to believe that the sentence requested by the Prosecuting Attorney was not just,” Simpson said in an email.

Question: If the State and the defense worked out a plea agreement, why did Simpson go through the kabuki theater of an "open" plea? Why not just announce the recommendation of the District Attorney?

Expect more stories on this throughout the weekend....

"The campaign for Attorney General is now officially over."

Jere Nash has a blog post up today discussing the Simpson-Manieri fiasco that erupted yesterday. For those not following along, you can read about it here, here, here, and here, but it can best be summed up thusly:

Jeremy Wayne Manieri pled guilty to molesting a child in October of 2006. Steve Simpson, the Republican Attorney General nominee, sentenced Manieri to 1 year in prison, when the max was 15 and the minimum was 2. Manieri allegedly murdered a Catholic priest in Waveland last week.

Nash's post, entitled "The Gift", can be read here. Nash, a longtime observer of Mississippi politics, ends the post with the following line: "The campaign for Attorney General is now officially over."

So who was the prosecutor who supposedly recommended the molestation sentence to Steve Simpson?

According to sources with knowledge of the 2006 case in which Jeremy Wayne Manieri pled guilty to molesting a child, the prosecutor in that case was Sean Tindell. Sean Tindell (R-Gulfport) is currently running against Jason Vitosky (I-Gulfport) to replace Sen. Billy Hewes (R-Gulfport) in the State Senate.

Manieri received 1 year to serve in 2006. He was arrested Sunday for the murder of Father Edward Everitt, a Catholic priest. Had Republican Attorney General candidate Stephen Simpson sentenced Manieri to even a third of the maximum sentence of 15 years, Everitt would be alive today.

Since the story broke this morning, Simpson has shifted blame to the prosecutor, saying that Tindell recommended the exceedingly light sentence. Court documents show otherwise, and that it was in fact an "open" plea, with the sentence left up to Simpson.

Simpson says Manieri plea agreement existed; court document says otherwise

In a story that has been developing all day, Republican Attorney General nominee is defending his extremely light sentence in a 2006 child molestation case.  An AP story from about 15 minutes ago says in part:

Simpson said prosecutors reached a plea agreement in the case, so he didn’t have access to the evidence and based the sentence on the prosecuting attorney’s recommendation.

“I was given no reason by the prosecution to believe that the sentence requested by the Prosecuting Attorney was not just,” Simpson said in an email.

Here's the problem. As explained in a prior post, this was an "open plea," meaning there was no recommendation from the prosecutor. How do we know that? The third page of the court file is the second page of Manieri's Petition to Enter a Plea of Guilty. Paragraph 7 of that Petition reads in pertinent part: The District Attorney will take no part other than providing to the Court, Police Reports, and other factual information as requested by the Court; and the District Attorney shall make no recommendations to the Court concerning my sentencing except as follows: (handwritten) OPEN PLEA.

Again, as stated before, an "open plea" leaves sentencing up to the judge. My guess is that Simpson made that statement to the AP reporter having not looked at the court file.

How does Waveland Chief of Police James Varnell feel about this? According to the article:

Varnell said Manieri has a long criminal record, but somehow ended up serving short sentences for serious crimes. Varnell said he was “very much” disappointed in 2006 when Manieri pleaded guilty to molesting a girl, and received what Varnell considered a light sentence.

Court file shows Manieri sentence was Steve Simpson's decision

I'm sure that some people out there immediately jumped to the conclusion that the extremely short sentence Steve Simpson gave accused priest murderer Jeremy Wayne Manieri for child molestation came as a result of a recommendation from the prosecutor.  In most instances, prosecutors and defense attorneys work out a plea bargain agreement.  That agreement works as follows: the defendant will plead guilty (thus relieving the State of the burden of proving its case before a jury), and in exchange for that, the State will recommend a certain sentence to the judge.  In Mississippi, a judge is not bound by any plea bargain agreement.  However, most judges adhere to the recommendations most of the time, as it speeds the administration of justice.

Other times, though, a defendant will plead "open."  This means that the State and the defendant have not reached an agreement, and that there will be no recommendation to the judge as to sentencing.

That's what happened in the Manieri child molestation case less than 5 years ago.  And that means that Steve Simpson, sitting as a circuit judge, was the sole person responsible for the decision to sentence Manieri to 2 years in prison (the minimum) and then suspend one of those years.

Here's the court file:
Manieri Molestation File

Some interesting notes:

1. Manieri was a convicted felon when he pled guilty before then-Judge Simpson for "touch(ing) or rub(bing) with his hands and tongue the vagina" of the child in question.
2. Not only was Manieri a convicted felon at the time he pled, he was also on probation for his prior conviction of credit card fraud.
3. The plea was an "Alford" or "best interests" plea. That means that Manieri would not admit his guilt, but did admit that if he proceeded to trial, the State had enough evidence to probably lead to a guilty verdict.
4. The minimum sentence for this crime is 2 years in prison. The maximum is 15 years.
5. Child molestation is a "day for day" crime, as is noted on the third page of the court file. That means no parole
6. Manieri was sentenced by Steve Simpson on October 3, 2006 to one year in prison. A sentence of 1 year on a 15 year crime is 6% of the maximum. If Simpson had sentenced Manieri to just 33% of the maximum, Father Edward Everitt would be alive today.

Republican AG candidate Steve Simpson's "Willie Horton"?

In a horrific story, the Bay Saint Louis Sea Coast Echo reports today that Jeremy Wayne Manieri, a 31 year-old Waveland man, was arrested and charged for the murder of Father Edward Everitt, a 70 year-old Catholic priest.  According to authorities, Manieri shot Father Everitt in the head, stole the priest's car, and then drove his estranged family to Disney World in it.  Manieri was tracked down through the vehicle's On Star system.

This is not Manieri's first brush with the law, however.  According to the Sea Coast Echo:

Manieri has an extensive criminal history in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, Varnell said. At the time of his arrest on Tuesday, Manieri was also wanted for grand larceny in Escambia County, Fla., Varnell added.

Locally, Maneri has been charged with several misdemeanors, and felonies including credit card fraud, uttering forgery, child molestation, and failure to register as a sex offender.

Despite his long criminal history, Manieri has avoided lengthy prison sentences.

In October 2006, he pleaded guilty to molesting a female under the age of seven. Former Circuit Court Judge Stephen Simpson sentenced Manieri to two years in jail, with one of those years suspended. (Emphasis added.) 

Yes, that is Republican Attorney General hopeful Stephen "Steve" Simpson sentencing Manieri to one year to serve for molesting a girl under the age of seven.  There's no mention of the statute Manieri was charged under in that case, but presumably it was Section 97-5-23, which is typically known as "gratification of lust," and carries a 2-15 year sentence in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

Is Simpson's candidacy even serious anymore? There's the property tax issue, the Hatch Act problems, the Edna Mae Sanders case, the the Ruble issue, and now this, which sure looks every bit like Simpson's "Willie Horton."