A special event geared toward political science and criminal justice majors took place in the Hunter Henry Center on Wednesday.
The event, entitled “Court On The Road,” brought the process of an actual hearing in the Mississippi Court of Appeals to the campus of Mississippi State University.
In this event, two cases were presented back-to-back, one involving a couple who were killed in an accident involving a sheriff’s deputy on MS-6 in Panola County. The plaintiffs were the deceased couple’s estate, while Panola County was the defendant.
One of the students who attended was Avis Alexander, a senior criminology major from Gloster, said the organizers did well to put on the event.
“This is actually the first court case I came to at Mississippi State,” Alexander said. “And I really like the environment, I really think it was structured well.”
Another student who attended the event was Reashley London, a senior political science major from McComb. London said the event helped her with her future plans.
“I want to be a lawyer one day, so this actually gained me some type of experience to make sure I have facts and evidence to back up my claim,” London said.
In the case, the plaintiffs had what is called the burden of proof, therefore the estate was the first to present their argument. In their argument, the plaintiffs claimed the officer had run a stop sign at an intersection, causing the couple’s vehicle to ram the officer, killing the couple.
However, in their argument, the plaintiff had referred to a graph which was not visible to the audience. London said she noticed this, and she could not make a real determination because of it.
“(The plaintiff) just kept referring the graph, and I think that there wasn’t enough evidence to really support his claim because he just kept saying ‘if you look at the graph’,” London said. “They were speeding, then he said that the officer did not look, he didn’t stop at the stop sign, he didn’t yield at the stop line, but we don’t know for sure because he was going off a graph.”
After the plaintiffs stated their case involving the accident, Kenaizha Shelby, a senior political science major from Laurel, said she did not really have a side in this particular case. She did say the most intriguing part of the hearing was when the defendant, Panola County, said the husband, who according to case details was not the driver of the couple’s car, was also in the wrong for the allegedly speeding in this case.
“(My most intriguing part) was when the defendant said that the husband was part of the criminal activity, because he is on the passenger’s side,” Shelby said. “It kind of makes it hard to blame him in addition to the driver.”
The Reflector has not obtained the decision regarding the case. However, Alexander said she did not have a side in regard to the case.
“I feel as if there are still unanswered questions,” Alexander said. “I’m not really sure how I would feel about the case or what side I would feel is more right or wrong in the case.”