A murder trial and a pair of sex-related crimes are scheduled for today in the 16th Circuit Court in Lowndes County.
James Newell, of Vernon, Ala., was arrested in May 2008 and charged with the shooting death of Adrian Boyette, 31, at the Slab House bar near Caledonia.
Newell, who was 49 at the time of his initial arrest, was convicted of manslaughter in 2009 for allegedly shooting Boyette after an altercation in the club’s parking lot. Newell alleged Boyette was attempting to “hurt him” although he stated he never saw a weapon.
Newell fled the scene of the crime and did not call 911, according to his court testimony. Police discovered Newell sitting at the base of a tree at his Vernon home with the gun pointed at his head approximately 30 minutes after the altercation.
The Mississippi Supreme Court ordered a retrial of the case in 2010 after ruling trial Judge Jim Kitchens erred in allowing the jury to consider whether Newell was acting in accordance with the state’s Castle Doctrine. That law allows someone to defend themselves without retreating.
The trial was originally scheduled for May of this year, but it was continued until the August court term after Newell’s attorney, William Starks, requested a continuance because a witness for the defense could not be located.
Assistant District Attorney Rhonda Hayes-Ellis will prosecute Newell. Hayes-Ellis was the original prosecutor in the 2009 trial. Judge Lee Coleman will preside over the trial.
Benny Shelton, owner of Stewart’s Antiques and Appraisals on Third Avenue North, is also scheduled for trial tomorrow in Circuit Court.
Shelton was indicted for sexual assault after being arrested and charged for the crime in January 2009. He is accused of sexually abusing a 17-year-old boy in a summer-camp type setting while working as youth leader of Eastview Baptist Church in New Hope.
He will be prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Mark Jackson. Judge Lee Howard will preside.
The retrial of D.R. McElhenney is also scheduled to begin in the August term of Circuit Court. McElhenney was indicted in 2009 of one count of felonious fondling of his then 11-year-old granddaughter.
His case was declared a mistrial in May after the jury delivered a split verdict. He will be retried by Assistant District Attorney Katie Moulds.
Jeff Clark was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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