Former District Attorney Dee Bates was awaiting the forecasted snow and wintry mix in north Mississippi when he answered the phone Thursday afternoon. He took time to reflect on the last major case in his career, the FedEx Shooting Case. 

Going all the way back to the beginning on January 24, 2022, Brandon and Gregory Case allegedly fired upon D’Monterrio Gibson, a delivery driver for FedEx, who was doing his job, and chased him to I-55. It took a week for the men to turn themselves in with a lawyer present as Brookhaven Police Department did not take action. 

The case quickly turned political. Brandon and Gregory are white men and Gibson is Black. With the murder of Ahmaud Arbery in 2020 by vigilantes in Atlanta, outside news media outlets and Gibson’s former attorney Carlos Moore drew parallels to the FedEx Shooting. 

Moore promised to “Occupy Brookhaven,” with protests in February 2022. Protestors descended upon Brookhaven in June 2022 calling for accountability. 

Bates told the paper in June 2022 and August 2022 he was waiting on the completed case file before taking the case to the grand jury. When he did take the case to Lincoln County Grand Jury, he said he thought he had a completed file of evidence. 

“Looking back, the answer was no. I didn’t get a completed file,” Bates said. “When you present a case for an indictment the state and any governmental entity bringing forth charges has to provide completed discovery. That is why you wait for a completed file. If there is any evidence, it has to be provided. That is why you want everything. Everything that was completed in the investigation.”

The grand jury

It is important for readers to understand the role of the District Attorney’s office is not to do the investigation but to present the case. Bates said the DA’s office, state, could have liability if they were an investigative body and they can not present a case if they are witnesses. 

In a grand jury, the DA represents intent and a number of potential charges and what could be proven by evidence. The state also shares any weaknesses they know of in the case. Bates said a presenting prosecutor lets the grand jury know everything and you do not hid anything. At the conclusion of presenting, the prosecution steps out and the grand jury then deliberates and determines what the charges are. 

Brandon and Gregory Case were indicted by the Lincoln County Grand Jury on charges of attempted murder, shooting into a motor vehicle and conspiracy. 

Bates presented the case to the grand jury and to his best understanding had everything.

“I looked like an idiot when more videos surfaced in the middle of the trial. Not everything was provided to the defense. The state didn’t have everything either. It was embarrassing,” Bates said. “In this situation, in the middle of trial, the investigator presents videos we were unable to know existed. The witness was asked by Attorney Kitchens if he had any other videos and he said he did.”

Surprise evidence 

The witness was former Brookhaven Police Department Det. Vincent Fernadno. In pretrial hearings before the trial, Fernando was instructed by Bates to turn in everything he had and testified he had turned in everything. 

As previously reported by The Daily Leader, there were seven DVDs and 227 document pages included in evidence. The video Fernando produced in the middle of the trial was of an interview with Gibson. 

When a mistrial was ruled, Bates gave this perspective, “There was a disk of the interview conducted with Mr. Gibson. We both asked for it. We had hearings and meetings for discovery,” Bates said. “We met with him, the defense met with him last week. The state is shocked at the new evidence.”

Declaring Mistrial 

Strong cited other mistakes made by Fernando for reasons behind granting a mistrial in August 2023. Fernadno brought up shell casings in testimony which were excluded from preliminary evidence, and he blurted out he found long guns during a search warrant which Strong had to admonish the jury to forget the evidence and the third time he produced discovery which had been requested many times by both parties but was never turned over. 

Bates said he believes the surprise evidence was due to ignorance. 

“You have defense attorneys who have not seen all the evidence now. It changed their idea of how they wanted to defend the case,” Bates said. “The judge thought the remedy in his belief was to declare a mistrial. I objected to it. I didn’t believe that video made any significant change in the case.”

In his ruling, Strong said it was the first time in 19 years he had ever had this happen. Bates said new evidence coming forward before a trial has happened multiple times. However, having it happen during the trial was a first. 

He added that usually if the producing of new evidence was not nefarious on part of the state they can allow the defense to move forward. Bates explained it wasn’t unusual to have it happen in pretrial motions which is why Bates made a habit of asking for everything. It is why he had Fernando testify he had everything.  

“My goal was to get it done. It was a political case,” Bates said. “I didn’t want to leave it behind for my successor. That was my responsibility and I hated that it was a mistrial.”

Circus not over

Brendon Adams was elected to replace Bates as the District Attorney. A pretrial motion to dismiss the case by the defense attorneys was entered in September 2024 with arguments made on September 30, 2024. 

The defense has contention over new evidence provided by Fernando since the case’s mistrial in August 2023. 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, 2024 including four different body camera footage which the District Attorney’s office promptly shared with defense attorneys.

In the pretrial hearing, Fernando maintained he did not know the body camera footage existed while acknowledging Brookhaven Police Department’s policy for body cameras to be worn during investigations. 

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 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.”

District Attorney Brendon Adams’ voice thundered in the courtroom as he asked Fernando who was responsible for the investigation. Fernando answered and said he was. 

“If there was evidence you should have had it. You testified you turned it over. The buck stops with you,” Adams said. 

It is important to note in the pretrial hearing Fernando shifted blame for the missing body camera footage to BPD IT man Chris Lambert. When asked why Lambert was not present, Fernando said no one asked for him to be there. 

Dismissed case

Missing evidence was cited as one reason for Strong ordering the case to be dismissed with prejudice Monday. As previously reported by The Daily Leader, Adams expressed his disappointment in Brookhaven Police Department and stated Strong had no other choice. 

Bates said the judge was put in a difficult position and he respected Strong’s decision. In all the years he worked with Strong, Bates said he was a judge who weighed out everything before ruling. 

“It was something he had to do and reflect on the entire time period. I feel sorry for the victim, Gibson,  I’ve met him a number of times,” Bates said. “He was working and that’s all he was doing. His story never changed. The events that he saw, he never wavered, he never changed his story. I can’t help but think what if this was my son. We never got to hear the side of the story from FedEx. That young man had a traumatic experience. It doesn’t matter what color he is. It was a difficult decision Strong had to make. I know he weighs everything and I guarantee this wasn’t an easy decision for him.”

Bates paused before sharing another thought. 

“Decisions are easy to make, it’s the living with decisions you made at the time that are hard,” Bates said. “You do your best to make the best decision. Sometimes you find out things. In the legal field, you are expected to make the best decision. Again, Gibson is an impressive young man and he never had an opportunity to tell his side of the story. He had a powerful testimony.”

Adams has not returned multiple phone calls last week asking if his office would appeal to a higher court. 

Things to consider

In the days since the case was dismissed, Brookhaven Board of Aldermen voted to fire Fernando. Police Chief Kenny Collins wrote a letter to the editor published on October 9, 2024 stating Fernando did not have access to body camera footage. 

In November, the Brookhaven Board of Aldermen voted to hire an evidence clerk. The new position was created at the encouragement of the District Attorney’s office and a report recommending it for the department. 

The report came after an independent evaluation of the police department was ordered by the Brookhaven Board of Aldermen in response to a grand jury report in July 2023. The independent evaluation began after the mistrial in August 2023. 

A report published after the evaluation identified several key issues in the Brookhaven Police Department. “The Department’s effectiveness is being impeded by a severe manpower shortage; a confusing and inefficient command structure; a lack of officer training; competency issues in its Investigations unit; and a lack of integration with the two prosecutors’ offices they work with.”