Thread by @jallen1985

THREAD: Juries in murder trials should hear expert witnesses' testimony live in the courtroom, and MS should not abandon that norm merely because the #MSleg refuses to fund MS's crime lab.

Yet, that is what @LynnFitchAG and @statedefender ask the MS Supreme Court to allow. 1/

Neither Mark LeVaughn's suspension nor COVID-19 hamper MS's ability to provide live testimony enough to merit lowering our standards for criminal trials.

Rather, the #MSleg is responsible for providing inadequate funds for autopsies. From @FowlerSarah: 2/
clarionledger.com/story/news/loc…

"The right to a speedy trial is being lost. ... If we don't get it correct, we'll see for the first time in a long time a case that's dismissed because of a lack of a speedy trial solely because the crime lab can't turn around its report." —@TindellSean 3/

The possibility that extreme delays could result in a dismissed indictment or overturned conviction is normally enough incentive for legislatures to fund crime labs and medical examiners.

But it wasn't enough for @HaleyBarbour @PhilBryantMS @tatereeves @PhilipGunnMS to do so. 4/

Rather, Barbour, Bryant, Reeves, and Gunn have steadily defunded* these law-enforcement offices and functions and chipped away at the constitution** in order to pass tax cuts that are wants, not needs.

*The thing they say they oppose.

**The thing they say they love. 5/

I hope @DelbertHosemann @briggs_hopson @bricewigginsMS will pass bills to fully fund our crime lab and med. examiners, but there isn't reason to think Tate and Gunn would agree to fully fund those offices in light of their repeated refusal to do so in the past. 6/

MS does not comply with the right to a speedy trial in the same way that we don't comply with the right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment or the right to assistance of counsel.

The Biden DOJ should promptly enforce all of these rights in MS. 7/

MS Chief Justice Randolph provides "the bench, the bar, and any interested parties" until January 8 to respond to @LynnFitchAG and @statedefender's request that he allow MS's medical examiners to testify by recorded deposition instead of testifying in person before juries. 8/

Circuit Judge Loper tells Chief Justice Randolph that "it is an excellent idea" to allow Mississippi's medical examiners to testify by deposition instead of delivering their expert testimony at trial in front of the live jury. courts.ms.gov/appellatecourt… 9/