LEXINGTON — Two Carroll County deputies charged in a 2011 shooting in Holmes County are scheduled to go on trial Monday.
A Holmes County grand jury indicted Deputies John Beck and Curtis Bela Alford in 2012 in connection with events on March 9, 2011, when they allegedly opened fire on a 1999 Honda driven by Odessa Williams of Lexington.
They also are accused of holding another man, Albert Coffee, without cause in the back of a patrol car from 10:30 p.m. until 1:30 a.m.
Beck and Alford are facing one count of aggravated assault, one count of shooting into a vehicle, one count of obstruction of justice, one count of conspiracy and one count of kidnapping.
The deputies have said they acted in self-defense. The men are free on $10,000 bond each.
The deputies were originally scheduled to go on trial on May 13.
Holmes County Circuit Judge Jannie Lewis continued the case to the court’s fall term because defense co-counsel Kevin Horan is a member of the state House of Representatives and a special session of the Legislature was expected to be called.
Carroll County Sheriff Jerry Carver said the deputies saw a driver turn around to avoid a roadblock on Mississippi 17 near the Holmes County line on March 9, 2011. Deputies pursued as the driver and a passenger drove into Holmes County, eventually wrecking the car and escaping on foot.
Beck and Alford determined the car was stolen from Hinds County and found a small amount of drugs inside it.
Carver said the car driven by Williams came toward the deputies shortly after the incident and Beck said he believed the car to be involved with the escaped men. Shots were fired into the back of the car, but no one was hit.
The grand jury indictment said the deputies obstructed justice by removing shell casings from the scene and having Williams’ vehicle towed from Holmes County to Carroll County.
Last year, Carroll County settled a federal lawsuit filed by Williams and Coffee. The terms of the settlement were confidential.
