BELZONI – A woman who was arrested for perjury during the capital murder trial of a Winona man last September plead guilty to those charges in court on Monday.
Mary Annette Purnell, of Winona, and her attorney, Bryant Clark, appeared before Judge Jannie Lewis in Humphreys County yesterday and accepted the plea bargain offered by the judge.
Purnell was facing a maximum of 40 years in jail for two counts of perjury, but she accepted the sentence of 10 years in jail, with 15 months to serve and two years supervised probation.
Purnell’s attorney said she appeared “solemn” when the sentence was read, but family members were there to support her.
While Purnell’s attorney said she never specifically admitted to lying in the September 2008 murder trial, Clark said his client was ready to “put this all behind her.”
“Ms. Purnell [and I] made the decision to take the plea bargain,” Clark told The Mississippi Link. “Her biggest thing was that…this had been going on for more than a year now and she wanted to put it behind her and move forward with the rest of her life.”
Purnell was selected as an alternate juror in the Curtis Flowers murder trial in Montgomery County in September 2008. This was Flowers’ fifth trial for the execution style murders of his former boss Bertha Tardy and three fellow employees Robert Golden, Carmen Rigby and 16-year old Derrick Stewart. All four victims had been shot in the head. Golden, the only black victim, was shot in the head twice.
One of Flowers’ previous trials resulted in a hung jury, and three others resulted in a guilty verdict with Flowers being sentenced to death. Those convictions were later overturned due to prosecutorial errors, including allegations that the district attorney sought to keep blacks off the jury.
Flowers, who is black, faced his fifth trial in September 2008, and Purnell was the only black female to serve on the jury panel along with three black men. One of those men, James Bibbs, was also arrested during the trial and charged with perjury. His case was dismissed last month.
The allegations against Purnell were brought during the first day of testimony in the Flowers trial when Judge Joseph Loper questioned her about her relationship with the defendant, Flowers.
During the voir dire process prior to the trial, the pool of about 600 potential jurors was cut down to 12 – with three alternates – after many prospective jurors admitted that they either had knowledge of the case, had formed an opinion about the case or they were related to or knew the victims or the suspect.
Purnell did not admit to any of those questions, but she was arrested when the judge learned that she had visited Flowers’ parents before the trial and that she was listed on the visitor’s log at the jail where Flowers was being held. The jail also confirmed that at least 60 calls from the jail had been made to Purnell’s home.
Judge Loper had Purnell taken into custody immediately and her bond was set at $20,000.
Purnell’s attorney said if this case had gone to trial, which was scheduled for Monday, his defense would have been what the court meant when they asked the prospective jurors if they “knew” Curtis Flowers.
“What does “know somebody” really mean,” Bryant said. “Upon reading the discovery, I always had questions about the clear understanding of that. There was one statement made, ‘Does anyone know Curtis Flowers?’ But ‘Did you have a conversation with…Have you seen him?’ Those questions were never asked and the DA had a chance to further voir dire the jurors after the judge did and he didn’t do that. Some people will say that [my client] should have stood up. But I don’t think she had any obligation to do so.”
Bryant said that prior to this incident, Purnell, a military veteran, and Montgomery County resident, had “never had any trouble before.”
“Never,” Clark said. “She’s maybe had one traffic ticket in her life. She returned from Desert Storm and she went to Kuwait and Iraq during the first Desert Storm. But I think she was put into a position here where she was looking at 40 years. So when the plea was offered, it was worth it to stop and look at it because you’re not guaranteed anything at trial. You’re dealing with the unknown which could have been a very harsh sentence.”
Purnell is to report to the Mississippi Department of Corrections on Jan. 7, 2010 to begin her 15-month sentence. Flowers’ sixth murder trial is scheduled for June 2010 in Montgomery County.
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