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D'Monterrio Gibson was allegedly shot at while working for FedEx on January 24, 2022. He still hopes he can tell his side of the story in court. (Hunter Cloud | The Daily Leader)

Sharon McLendon, D'Monterrio Gibson's mom, and Gibson wait for a criminal trial to start in August 2023. The jury never made it to the courtroom and Gibson did not take the stand as a mistrial was declared. Gibson had already been escorted out of the room before the motions for mistrial were made. McClendon was escorted out of the courtroom cursing. (Hunter Cloud | The Daily Leader)

Gregory Case speaks with members of his defense during the first trial in Aug. 2023. The trial was declared a mistrial and will be scheduled to be retried. Gregory and his son Brandon Case were charged with attempted murder, conspiracy to murder and shooting into a motor vehicle. (Hunter Cloud | The Daily Leader)

Video testimony made by D'Monterrio Gibson produced by Brookhaven Police Department detective Vincent Fernando brought the Mississippi v. Case trial to a screeching halt in 2023. From left, District Investigator Damian Gatlin, Defense Attorney Dan Kitchens, former District Attorney Dee Bates and attorney Mike Kitchens meet in counsel about the piece of evidence. Court was dismissed for the day. (Hunter Cloud | The Daily Leader)

Vincent Fernando, a detective with Brookhaven Police Department, waits on attorneys to finish counsel with Judge David Strong before continuing his testimony in August 2023. (Hunter Cloud | The Daily Leader)

BROOKHAVEN — Judge David Strong issued an order Monday dismissing all charges in a case against Brandon and Gregory Case. The men were indicted by a grand jury in Nov. 2022 on charges of attempted murder, conspiracy and shooting into a motor vehicle driven by former FedEx driver D’Monterrio Gibson in January 2022. 

On Sept. 16, 2024, the Case’s attorneys Terrell Stubbs and Dan Kitchens entered a motion to dismiss and continued a hearing for the motion to Sept. 30, 2024. Judge Strong requested the state and defense to submit a letter brief and the court would rule on the motion. 

Strong stated in his order the defendants alleged numerous intentional discovery violations made by investigator Vincent Fernando with the Brookhaven Police Department. 

“Due to numerous intentional discovery violations made by the investigator, detective Vincent Fernando, and thus the state, the defendants have been deprived of a speedy trial, intentionally denied evidence, exposed to double jeopardy and denied due process in general,” the order states. “Having conducted a hearing and having reviewed the field and all pleadings, the court finds that the investigator in the case intentionally withheld evidence from the defense, even the District Attorney, on numerous occasions, resulting in egregious discovery violations by the state. These repeated intentional errors are a clear violation of the Rules of Criminal Procedure, as well as well-established case law, justifying the dismissal of the indictment with prejudice.”

The dismissal of the case with prejudice means it can not be refilled. 

District Attorney Brendon Adams responded to the order Monday afternoon. 

“I’m disappointed in the ruling but I think the actions of the Brookhaven Police Department left the judge with no choice,” Adams said. 

This is a developing story, check back for further comments, reactions and updates. 

Background to motion

As previously reported by The Daily Leader, the defense had contention over new evidence provided by Fernando since the case’s mistrial in August 2023 in pretrial motions. Defense Attorney Terrell Stubbs argued Fernando knew about evidence including the body camera footage of detectives going through Brandon Case’s home but did not comply with an initial court order to turn everything over. 

Fernando turned over additional new evidence on Sept. 19 including four different body camera footage which the District Attorney’s office promptly shared with defense attorneys. 

Readers may not recall but Strong admonished Fernando at the conclusion of the mistrial in August 2023 and asked him to turn over any and all evidence relevant to the case. It appears he did not do so as a new discovery surfaced a month before the retrial. 

Fernando maintained in the pretrial hearing in September that he didn’t know other body camera footage existed while admitting he did know the Brookhaven Police Department’s policy called for body cameras to be on during investigations and he knew footage existed of a suspect lineup and other moments. 

Additionally, Fernando admitted he did not have his body camera on during the initial investigation of the crime scene on Jan. 25, 2022 when he went with alleged victim D’Monterrio Gibson. He explained he did not feel it was necessary at the time. 

Fernando then turned his body camera on before interviewing Brandon Case at Honda Pro on Jan. 25, 2022. 

Defense Attorney Dan Kitchens asked Fernando about pictures he had taken while searching the home of Brandon Case. Kitchens said while watching body camera footage he noticed Fernando was taking pictures of guns and instructing a fellow officer to write down the serial numbers to the firearms in a list. 

He asked where the list and pictures were. The list was misplaced, Fernando said and the pictures were deleted because the handgun found in the safe was a “BB gun.”

Adams and Stubbs then brought up body camera footage which showed Fernando speaking with other officers outside of the police station and how they wanted to handle the case the morning Gibson made the complaint. Fernando suggested going with a specific officer because they were easier to manipulate. Fernando said he wasn’t thinking about it at that time. 

Stubbs asked if Fernando had already made up his mind about Brandon Case being guilty before even questioning him. Fernando said he did not.

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