The attorney general’s office made preliminary steps Monday toward seeking a new trial for two women who were released from prison in June after a local judge overturned their 2001 convictions.

     Leigh Stubbs, 32, of Collins, and Tammy Vance, 43, of Dry Prong, La., have been free on bond since June 28 when Judge Michael Taylor vacated their 2001 convictions in Lincoln County on aggravated assault and drug charges.

     Originally, the women were convicted for the assault of a third woman, Janet Kimberly Williams, they were traveling with at the time. The incident occurred at a Brookhaven motel.

     At Monday’s brief hearing, Mikell Buckley, from the state attorney’s general office, and lawyers with the Mississippi Innocence Project clashed.

     The few minutes of the hearing revolved around whether a second trial can proceed based on the original indictment or whether a new indictment must be obtained.

     The battles lines were predictable. Buckley argued the old indictment is sufficient for a second trial, and lawyers representing Stubbs and Vance said a new indictment is needed.

     Tucker Carrington, director of the Mississippi Innocence Project, argued the original indictment was obtained based on evidence provided by Michael West, whose testimony was key in the reversal of the original conviction.

     Taylor scheduled a hearing on Sept. 10 to argue the indictment issue and any other motions that may be made before then.

     Despite the apparent desire of the attorney general’s office to proceed with a second trial, Taylor noted in his order vacating the original convictions that the state had offered only minimal, pro forma opposition in the case.

     The trend of a less than aggressive prosecution continued Monday. Taylor asked Buckley if she would be arguing the case at a second trial.

     “I hope to goodness not,” she said.

     After the hearing, family members expressed disappointment in the prospect of a second trial. However, they remain focused on the present rather that the future of what could be a tangled legal process.

     “We’re just glad to have them home,” said Steve Wade, Stubbs’ brother-in-law. “We have a lot of catching up to do.”

     Wade expressed confidence even in the face of a second trial.

     “We think the facts will pan out as they’re supposed to,” Wade said.

     Stubbs is also focused on enjoying her present, a present that radically changed in June after nearly 11 years in prison.

     “I’m just trying to move on,” she said. “It’s busy, real busy out here.”

     She remains encouraged by the fact that she has the Mississippi Innocence Project in her corner.

     “I felt hopeful for the first time in years,” said Stubbs, describing her emotions when the legal group took up her case. “It was hopeful just to have someone believe in you.”

     Speaking after the hearing, Innocence Project lawyers disparaged the state’s decision to seek a new trial.

     “It’s disappointing. There should be some agreement about whether doing this advances the ball of the criminal justice system,” Carrington said. “This is not where we need to be putting our resources.”

     The attorney general’s office has been defending the original conviction rather than the Lincoln County District Attorney’s office.

      Defense attorneys also reiterated their opposition to allowing the original indictment to stand.

     “Even if the state doesn’t use West’s testimony, they are still relying on him,” said Valena Beety, a lawyer representing Stubbs.

     In the original trial, West testified he could match bite marks on William’s body to the women charged with the assault and that he could enhance a surveillance tape he said showed Stubbs and Vance placing a body into a truck’s toolbox.

     An FBI analysis of the same surveillance tape was far less conclusive, and the apparent failure to turn that FBI tape over to defense lawyers was the basis of overturning their original convictions.

     The bite mark issue was not argued at length before Taylor, though in a deposition West testified he no longer believes in the science of bite mark analysis.

     Carrington believes the attorney general’s office should be investigating West’s testimony rather than defending it.

     “There are pathologies in the legal system that the state’s chief law enforcement officer doesn’t seem interested in correcting,” Carrington said.