By Staff
Jan. 29, 2002
The Mississippi Supreme Court has refused to hear Jonathan Fulcher's appeal of a conviction and life sentence handed down in 1998 in Lauderdale County Circuit Court.
Fulcher was arrested, indicted and tried for armed robbery in connection with an incident at the Sunglass Hut at Bonita Lakes Mall. He was convicted of attempted robbery, a much less serious offense.
The jury's verdict indicated they believed he tried to rob the store, but did not believe he used a gun in the commission of the crime. Fulcher's trial attorney, Dave Harbour of Quitman, argued unsuccessfully that Fulcher voluntarily "abandoned" the crime before it was completed and even went for help when the victim hyper-ventilated.
This is not the kind of thing that usually results in a life sentence without the possibility of parole, but Fulcher had prior convictions for violent crimes and was sentenced as a habitual offender under Mississippi's mandatory "three strikes" law.
Something to think about if you are considering a career in crime.
Elsewhere in Meridian:
Assistant chief: Now that we have a chief of police, the next step is to choose an assistant chief. I asked Chief Benny DuBose how that works. First, the vacancy will be posted at the Meridian Police Department. Officers who apply will undergo a two-step examination consisting of a written test and an interview. DuBose will make his recommendation to the mayor, who must confirm the selection.
Parolee: Steven Bouder has been paroled. Bouder was indicted for murder and witness intimidation in the September 1999 shooting of his wife, 40-year-old Sandra Bouder. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter in August 2000 after doubt was cast on the statements of a key prosecution witness. He was sentenced to 20 years, with 181/2 years suspended and 18 months to serve.
Torched: A local Internet bulletin board, http://anon.freeservers.com, has been torched by what appear to be out-of-town posters.
The site has several forums; one is dedicated to law enforcement issues. One or more it's actually a little hard to tell cop-haters arrived a couple of weeks ago. The exchanges between local folks and the out-of-towners had been growing increasingly bitter and abusive.
The site has now been clogged with blank postings from people with pornographic screen names. It's too bad. The site hosted discussions that were at times heated but, for the most part, people minded their manners.
The forum is now "read-only" unless you have the password and the heckling messages will eventually disappear as new comments are posted. By the way, don't go there to check out the damage unless you can tolerate some pretty ugly language.
Profile edition: We receive reader-written submissions for "Profile 2002: The Fabric of America" every day. I opened an envelope last week, and pulled out a "Bragging Rights" feature by a young man who wrote a story about his mother but asked me not to tell anyone where he lives. I looked at the return address. He "lives" in prison. I'm going to honor that request. The special edition comes out Feb. 28.