By By Marianne Todd/The Meridian Star
March 19, 2001
A Lauderdale County grand jury is expected to hear 299 cases this week, including charges ranging from murder to felony bad check.
Lauderdale County District Attorney Bilbo Mitchell said the grand jury session, which convenes today, will open with the presentation of 52 drug cases. On Tuesday, the grand jury will hear Meridian Police Department cases, he said, one of which is a murder case.
Also scheduled for Tuesday are felony DUI cases, burglaries, sex offense cases, motor vehicle thefts, uttering and forgeries, grand larcenies, aggravated assaults, armed robberies, robberies, credit card frauds, embezzlements and two kidnapping cases.
On Thursday, the grand jury is scheduled to hear 124 bad check cases before Lauderdale County Sheriff's Department cases are presented. Those cases include sex offense cases, grand larcenies, burglaries, receiving stolen property and a number of felony DUIs.
Mitchell said the number of cases is not unusually high.
If the sessions stay on schedule, grand jury members should be finished hearing cases by 3:30 p.m. Thursday. They will then begin their tours of the Lauderdale County Detention Facility and Lauderdale County Courthouse. Jurors also have the option of touring the Lauderdale County Juvenile Center, East Mississippi State Hospital and county schools.
Marianne Todd is a staff writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail her at mtodd@themeridianstar.com.