Leflore County Justice Court Judge James K. Littleton says accusations that he forged signatures on documents in an estate dispute wouldn’t have become public news if he weren’t campaigning for higher office.
Littleton, speaking to the Greenwood Rotary Club Monday, said that it was “unlikely” that the accusations, leveled by his sister and mother in official public records, would have been reported or become an issue if this were not an election year.
The Greenwood attorney is currently campaigning for the circuit court judgeship being vacated by retiring Judge Betty Sanders. He’s opposed in that race by Takiyah Perkins, an assistant district attorney from Greenwood, and Carol White-Richard, a Greenville attorney and Sunflower County public defender.
“This is something that’s been going on for a year,” Littleton said, referring to the lawsuit his sister and mother filed to reopen the estate of his late father, James A. Littleton Jr. “It would not have been an issue.”
Littleton said that few people had been aware of the allegations or the existence of the estate fight until recently, although he said he knew “when my opponents heard about it.”
Last week, Littleton told the Commonwealth that he believed his family had agreed to speak publicly about the allegations in a deliberate attempt to undermine his campaign.
Littleton’s remarks to the Rotary Club focused primarily on the operation of the Leflore County Justice Court, in keeping with the civic club’s policy against candidates for office making political speeches.
The judicial candidate addressed the allegations briefly at the end of his speech as well as in response to a question posed by one of the Rotarians.
Littleton’s address came one day after the Commonwealth reported at length on the allegations of forgery, which were included in a lawsuit filed in Bolivar County Chancery Court by Littleton’s mother, Bonnie Littleton, and his sister, Melaney Littleton Phillips. In the lawsuit, the pair claim that their signatures were forged on several land deeds in which the two women reportedly renounced their claims to a home in Greenwood and a 40-acre parcel of farmland near Mound Bayou in Bolivar County.
The Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office, responding to complaints filed by the mother and the sister, revoked the notary commission of James Littleton’s secretary, Nancy Hudson, after Hudson acknowledged that she did not witness the women sign the documents she notarized.
In addressing the allegations at the Rotary Club, Littleton again denied ever having committed forgery. He has acknowledged signing his relatives’ names on one set of deeds but said he did so with their permission.
“I’ve done nothing wrong with regards to the estate,” Littleton said Monday. “I haven’t forged any signatures.”
• Contact Bryn Stole at 581-7235 or bstole@gwcommonwealth.com.
