A Clarksdale Commissioner was arrested in April and quietly appeared in Clarksdale Municipal Court last week on charges of simple assault only to see the case dismissed.
Clarksdale Ward 3 Commissioner Willie Turner, 56, turned himself in to Clarksdale Police Tuesday, April 29 at 9:50 a.m., on an outstanding warrant for simple assault to create fear.
“Per Mayor (Chuck) Espy, Mr. Turner is to be written up and then released on subpoena,” said court documents obtained by the Clarksdale Press Register. “Once Turner was written up he was released on subpoena and given a court date for May 8, 2025.”
The charges stem from an incident on April 18, just days before Clarksdale voters headed to the polls to vote in a runoff election involving Turner, an incumbent, and challenger Eddie Earl.
Court records say Turner unlawfully and willfully attempted to put Jeremy Dye, 38, in fear of imminent serious bodily harm by putting his right hand in Dye’s face while holding a handgun in his left hand. The arrest affidavit said the gun was in a holster.
The document goes on to say Eddie Earl and a man only identified as Dooney “tricked” the campaign. The incident took place in the 1100 Block of Sunflower Avenue.
Turner was released on a personal recognizance bond of $360. The report said Turner was cooperative.
On Thursday, Turner appeared before Judge Derrick Hopson in Clarksdale Municipal Court on the charges.
City Prosecutor Bill Gresham asked that he, City public defender Richard Lewis and City Judge Hopson, be recused from the case and an out of town prosecutor, defender and judge be brought in to hear the case, since the trio are employed by the city.
Gresham had proposed a similar situation, when Milton Gardner was charged with public drunk and indecent exposure in the fall of 2024.
An out-of-town judge and prosecutor convicted Milton Gardner of public drunk and indecent exposure following a series of incidents next door to city hall on Sunflower Avenue in downtown Clarksdale and witnessed by Gresham.
Gardner pled guilty of public drunk and pled no contest to the charge of indecent exposure. He was sentenced to 10 days in jail, which was suspended, and fined $275 on the public drunk charge. He was sentenced to 90-days in jail, which was suspended, and fined $245 for the indecent exposure charge.
Gardner was also banned from the 100 and 200 blocks of Sunflower Avenue.
Gardner is running for Mayor of Clarksdale as an Independent candidate and will be listed on the June 3 General Election ballot.
But on Thursday, Judge Hopson said the case should not have been filed in city court since Turner is a sitting city commissioner. Hopson said the case should have been filed in another court and said he had no jurisdiction in the case and then dismissed it.
Police reports filed with the Clarksdale Press Register said “No reports today April 18th - 23rd, 2025. Thank you.”
Earl went on the defeat Turner 339 to 267 votes in the runoff. Earl does not have an opponent in the General Election and will be seated as the new Ward 3 Commissioner July 1.
