PASCAGOULA, Miss. (AP) - Senior Circuit Judge Michael H. Ward will preside over the perjury trial of former Jackson County sheriff’s Lt. Ken McClenic.
The Sun Herald reports (https://bit.ly/1kENTly ) the Mississippi Supreme Court appointed Ward after local judges recused themselves. Trial is scheduled for May 12.
McClenic, 51, was indicted in January on the felony perjury charge that carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison. A deputy since 1985, McClenic was fired from the Sheriff’s Office immediately after he was served the indictment.
He testified before the grand jury in July, testimony that resulted in former Sheriff Mike Byrd being indicted on one felony charge each of intimidating an officer in the discharge of his duties and tampering with a witness.
The charges accused Byrd of pressuring McClenic to make an arrest in a murder so Byrd could say he had no unsolved murders in his campaign for re-election in 2007.
McClenic told the grand jury Byrd ordered him to sign an affidavit for the arrest of Robert McKee on a charge of murder though McClenic told the grand jury he did not believe McKee committed the crime.
In September, during a hearing in an unrelated case challenging McClenic’s credibility as a witness, McClenic backed off his testimony, saying, he had “refreshed” his memory about what had occurred.
McClenic then said he believed he had obtained the affidavit to arrest the man on the murder charge because the man had confessed and provided details about the crime no one else had.
After McClenic changed his testimony, Circuit Judge Robert Krebs ordered all of McClenic’s grand jury testimony in July, along with any exhibits and McClenic’s testimony at the hearing in September, turned over to the Attorney General’s Office to investigate. McClenic is accused of perjuring himself before the grand jury.
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Information from: The Sun Herald, https://www.sunherald.com
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