WINONA — Two jurors arrested and jailed during Curtis Giovanni Flowers’ fifth murder trial have been indicted on felony charges of perjury.
James Franklin Bibbs and Mary Annette Purnell were each indicted on two counts of perjury in Montgomery County Circuit Court Thursday morning. They both pleaded not guilty during an arraignment before Circuit Judge Clarence Morgan III. They are free on $20,000 bond.
The indictments handed down Thursday charge Bibbs and Purnell both with “constituting a related series of acts or transactions or a common scheme or plan” during the trial’s jury selection phase.
Each count of perjury comes with a maximum penalty of 10 years.
District Attorney Doug Evans, in court today in Carroll County, could not be reached for comment.
Flowers is accused of shooting four people to death inside Tardy Furniture in 1996. In three previous trials, he was convicted and sentenced to death, but the convictions were later reversed on appeal. A fourth trial, held in 2007, and a fifth, which ended last week, resulted in hung juries.
Bibbs, a 66-year-old retired Montgomery County teacher, is represented by Jackson attorney Robert McDuff.
“Mr. Bibbs is a good person. He is a longtime educator and coach, he is 66 years old, has lived his whole life in Montgomery County and has never been in trouble before,” McDuff said Thursday evening.
“He has pled not guilty to the charge. He did not commit perjury.”
The first count against Bibbs accuses him of “stating that he had no knowledge of the case other than knowledge he obtained through the news media when the truth is he had first-hand knowledge of the crime scene and/or the investigation.”
The second accuses him of “stating that he did not have a preconceived opinion about the case when the truth is he did in fact have a preconceived opinion.”
According to a note other jurors passed to Circuit Judge Joseph H. Loper Jr. during the latest trial, Bibbs, while the jury deliberated, said he had personally watched evidence being planted inside Tardy Furniture on the day of the murders.
After declaring a mistrial, Loper ordered Bibbs arrested and charged with perjury.
“This whole thing has been misconstrued and blown out of proportion,” McDuff said. “At the end of the day, the evidence will show that he is innocent.”
Lexington attorney Bryant Clark is representing Purnell, 49. He did not respond to messages left at his office.
One of the counts Purnell has been indicted on accuses her of lying to the court about knowing Flowers, and another accuses her of lying about knowing Flowers’ mother, Lola Flowers.
After Purnell had been chosen to serve as an alternate juror, court officials discovered that the Winona resident was on Flowers’ jail visitation list and that more than 60 phone calls were made from the jail to Purnell’s home. When confronted with these claims in open court shortly after witness testimony began, Purnell said the calls were placed by Flowers and her son, who is also being housed at the Montgomery-Carroll Regional Correctional Facility.
When reached Thursday evening, Purnell said she had no comment.
