True crime has become a paint-by-numbers game. The formula is often copied and pasted, and finding a novel approach in the field is rare.

With that in mind, you can imagine my skepticism when I saw yet another true crime documentary suggested to me on Netflix. This time, it was The Kings of Tupelo: A Southern Crime Saga touting itself as a “bizarre true-crime tale” in which “an Elvis impersonator’s conspiracy theory sets off a feud that spirals into an attempted presidential assassination.”

That’s a lead that will make you take notice.

Still, I hated the first episode of the three-part documentary. Honestly, I almost didn’t make it to the second installment.

‘Welcome to Tupelo, Mississippi, where things are different.’

The vast majority of episode one focuses on explaining the environment viewers will navigate. The introduction revolves around one of Tupelo’s most famous sons: Elvis Presley. Elvis “tribute artist” Paul Kevin Curtis, who goes by K.C., is our narrative guide.

One thing is clear: Presley was born in Tupelo, and the town will never let you forget it.

I understood the need to set the stage. Still, the process was far too prolonged. Some of it helped introduce main characters, but that was the exception. I understand the production team’s desire to fixate on the film’s geographical pull—the “South,” and its trappings play a large part in the story—but it was a tad bit overdone.

Nevertheless, I’m glad I made it to the second episode … because this ish is bananas.

‘It was my introduction into the world of conspiracy …’

After meeting his future wife and becoming a father, K.C. realizes he can’t support his family just singing and dancing. He starts a janitorial business focusing on the Presley hook and seems to do well. In 1999, he lands a large contract with North Mississippi Medical Center to clean their facilities.

According to K.C., while working in a hospital morgue in 1999, he stumbled across a refrigerator containing a severed head and other body parts. He relays the finding to anyone who will listen, quickly catching the ire of the hospital administration. He’s fired, and by his own admission, “that night [he] made a decision to send the rest of [his] life trying to uncover the truth” of those severed body parts.

At this point most of the audience has no doubt picked up on K.C.’s peculiarities.

He quickly purchases a Gateway computer and spends day and night searching the internet and scouring chatrooms and message boards for information regarding body-part harvesting and trafficking conspiracies. Based on reports from his then-wife, brother and others around town, K.C. became somewhat obsessed with the idea that the hospital was involved in organ and body-part trafficking. According to local law enforcement, K.C. started to pop up consistently on their radar.

He was undeterred by what he describes as police harassment. He was “onto something,” and no one was going to stop his “one-man crusade” to share online the information he was discovering. K.C. drafted legislation on the topic and appeared to work very hard to introduce it to local politicians. His abrasive and obsessive tactics bring the ire of local and national politicians, though.

‘I guess God chose me … I am a warrior ninja with a sword of justice.’

He mentions his divine purpose multiple times throughout Kings of Tupelo. K.C. believes God has chosen him to fight the powers that be and expose the underbelly of body-part harvesting and trafficking. By the middle of the second episode, it’s clear he experiences delusions of grandeur at best and some sort of undiagnosed mental health issue at worst.

Throughout the series, I constantly found myself asking when the shoe was going to drop regarding some sort of medical diagnosis. The closest we get is a short segment where his family has him temporarily committed, but there is little discussion or further information.

Paul Kevin Curtis in Netflix’s The Kings of Tupelo: A Southern Crime Saga. (Photo courtesy of Netflix)

If you practice criminal defense, you know how often mental health issues arise in criminal cases. We go so far as to keep a copy of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM. Obviously, my job isn’t to diagnose my clients, but it’s good to know the potential signs in undiagnosed individuals. And if they have a diagnosis, it’s helpful to have more insight.

Working with a client who experiences mental health episodes can be challenging, but there are degrees of difficulty depending on the individual client.

Here, K.C.’s delusions of grandeur could merely be a primary feature of a delusional disorder, or they could be a symptom of something else, like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder—or many other conditions. Coupling this with what seems like consistent paranoia, though, gives the impression there may be more to the story than the documentary gives off. Make no mistake: He is coherent and sometimes quite funny—purposeful or not—throughout the documentary.

Nevertheless, like many of my clients who exhibit symptoms of an underlying issue, it’s hard to know whether K.C.’s “eccentricity” is an indicator of a potential diagnosis or simply quirks associated with his peculiar personality. Regardless, as his ex-wife explains, “Kevin did not have a big grip on reality.”

‘Sir, I haven’t bought rice in years … I never eat rice.’

When local politicians receive letters containing the poison ricin, K.C.’s name comes up as a possible suspect. When then-President Barack Obama in 2013 receives one such letter, the feds get involved and trace the letters back to a Tupelo mail office; K.C. is arrested and investigated as a terrorist.

His brashness and grandiose demeanor dig him even deeper. Had he mailed letters to all those people? Of course he had. Which politician hadn’t he contacted about his body-part-trafficking legislation? But as authorities begin to examine K.C., things don’t seem to fit. How could this Elvis tribute artist/janitor concoct such a high-level attack? Things didn’t add up—until they do.

I won’t get too far into the twist, as I really want you all to watch the series. It is wonderfully chaotic, and the team behind the documentary deserves applause for stepping outside the genre’s comfort zone.

OK, one hint: The twist involves a feud with a karate instructor.

And it’s this type of mania that ultimately sets Kings of Tupelo apart and makes it well worth the watch. The second half plays out like a cross between a Cohen brothers movie and Step Brothers, the classic Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly film. I mean that in the absolute best way possible.

If this sounds compelling, don’t ask me how; just go with it and find out for yourself.

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Adam R. Banner is the founder and lead attorney of the Oklahoma Legal Group, a criminal defense law firm in Oklahoma City. His practice focuses solely on state and federal criminal defense. He represents the accused against allegations of sex crimes, violent crimes, drug crimes and white-collar crimes.

The study of law isn’t for everyone, yet its practice and procedure seem to permeate pop culture at an increasing rate. This column is about the intersection of law and pop culture in an attempt to separate the real from the ridiculous.

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This column reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily the views of the ABA Journal—or the American Bar Association.

A former funeral home owner in Mississippi has been accused of using a storage unit to illegally store bodies — even going so far as to describe it as his “casket warehouse” on TikTok — after he lost his business license, cops say.

“The discovery of human remains in a storage unit in our city is deeply disturbing and raises serious concerns that demand a thorough investigation,” Greenville Mayor Errick D. Simmons said in a statement last week after the arrest of Albert “Al” Creath, 31, was announced by the Washington County Sheriff’s Department.

Irene walked into the office of a young lawyer in a small town in Mississippi more than 40 years ago with an eviction notice and a two-page lease. Events that would follow turned the lawyer into a legal aid attorney and a believer in the power of pro bono legal work.

Irene was devastated at the prospect of losing her home in a rundown trailer park on the edge of town. She had fallen behind on rent. She had always caught up in the past, but this time, the landlord was not listening. Her eviction was imminent.

When Irene walked into the courthouse later that day, the landlord was stunned to see that she had a lawyer. The attorney showed the court that the owner had failed to give proper notice to evict Irene, and he vowed to sue for damages over the horrible condition of the rental property and trailer park. The landlord settled with Irene and with three neighbors who came to the court when they learned that Irene had legal representation.

Irene’s case showed the attorney, who went on to become a bestselling author of legal thrillers and an advocate for legal aid, the power of practicing law to help people. When you show up to represent someone who cannot pay, everything changes. They get respect and a fair hearing.

A veteran struggling with emotional scars after a terrorist attack on his unit in Beirut showed another attorney the power of providing legal assistance. The veteran’s mental health spiraled downward after he found himself near the Sept. 11, 2001, attack in New York. Legal aid helped the veteran get previously denied benefits, so that he could remain in his home, get a job and put his life back together. That case left a lasting impression on the attorney who went on to become the current and longest-serving board chair of Legal Services Corp.

These are our stories as we mark the National Celebration of Pro Bono in October and the 50th anniversary of the LSC—which supports 130 legal aid organizations providing legal representation for low-income people in every corner of the United States. Many lawyers have such stories about their pro bono service—volunteer efforts that expand the ability of civil legal aid to help low-income income people get a fair shake in court.

This added resource for civil legal aid is badly needed. A 2022 access-to-justice gap report from the LSC found that low-income Americans received no or insufficient legal help for 92% of their civil legal problems in 2022.

Evictions, like Irene’s case, and other housing issues dominate legal aid caseloads today, making up 39.5% of the cases closed by the LSC grantees in 2023.

Legal aid also helps low-income people find protection from domestic violence, get fair treatment around consumer and financial issues, and get access to public benefits, including benefits for veterans.

Attorneys have a responsibility to share their skills, knowledge and time to ensure that the justice system works for everyone, including people like Irene, her neighbors and the veteran. Legal aid organizations rely on attorneys to offer their pro bono services to help close the justice gap.

While we have a lot to celebrate in the 50 years of the LSC’s history, we have a long way to go in the struggle to ensure justice for all Americans.

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John Levi is Senior Counsel at Sidley Austin LLP and board chairman for the Legal Services Corp. John Grisham, an attorney and a bestselling author, serves on the LSC’s Leaders Council.

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ABAJournal.com is accepting queries for original, thoughtful, nonpromotional articles and commentary by unpaid contributors to run in the Your Voice section. Details and submission guidelines are posted at “Your Submissions, Your Voice.”

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This column reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily the views of the ABA Journal—or the American Bar Association.

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3. How this lawyer reacted when client claimed…

Criminal Justice

How this lawyer reacted when client claimed to be Messiah and demanded $25K

By Debra Cassens Weiss

April 4, 2024, 9:47 am CDT

A lawyer in Mississippi is grateful that he and his staff members are safe after an agitated client with a gun in his leather bag demanded $25,000.

“We don’t take it for granted that the Lord spared our lives yesterday,” said lawyer Carlos Moore of Grenada, Mississippi, in an interview with WREG.

The client came to Moore’s office with his wife, said he was the Messiah, and said he wouldn’t leave until he received $25,000 in his workers’ compensation case, Moore told the broadcast station.

Moore told the client that he had to call the opposing counsel. Moore left the meeting room, called 911, and texted his staff to remain in their offices.

“I was concerned what he would do when I came back to tell him there would not be a $25,000 check today,” Moore said.

When Moore came back, the client “was going for a gun” in a small leather bag, Moore said. The client’s wife was telling him, “No, you’re not doing this today.” The client replied that the gun wasn’t loaded, and he and his wife continued to bicker over it.

Police and paramedics quickly arrived. The client wasn’t charged because he never threatened harm. Moore plans to withdraw from the man’s case.

A U.S. Air Force major from Mississippi and his wife are suing Marriott International for $160 million after he says he awoke horrified inside of a North Carolina hotel room to a perfect stranger in his bed performing oral sex on him.

According to the 16-page complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, the alleged assault took place on April 8, 2022, at the Marriott Hotel on West Trade Street in Charlotte.

The victim was not identified in the complaint, although he has named his accused assailant: Jermaine Lamont Peay, 28.

Arrest records for the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office confirm Peay was arrested in May 2022 and charged with felony larceny, burglary first degree, second degree forcible sex offense and larceny after breaking and entering.

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3. Only 1 out of 5 defendants in this Mississippi…

Sixth Amendment

Only 1 out of 5 defendants in this Mississippi county get court-appointed lawyers before indictment

By Debra Cassens Weiss

February 27, 2024, 8:22 am CST

The right to counsel is “tenuous” in a small Mississippi justice court in Yalobusha County, Mississippi, where two judges appointed lawyers for felony defendants in only 20% of the cases opened in 2022, according to an investigative report.

Experts estimate that the national rate of lawyer appointments is 80% in felony cases, at some point in the legal process, according to the article by the Marshall Project, which was produced in partnership with the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal and ProPublica.

Felony defendants make their first appearance in justice court or municipal court in Yalobusha County, where judges are tasked with evaluating whether the defendant can pay for a lawyer and to appoint one if necessary. A review of court files in the county found 63 cases in which defendants appeared before a justice court judge in 2022. Two cases were excluded because it was unclear whether a listed lawyer was appointed or hired.

The appointment rate in the remaining cases was 20%. In 61% of the cases, the defendant had no attorney, whether privately hired or publicly funded, the article reports.

The cases move to a circuit court after an indictment. Out of 15 cases now in the circuit court that were initiated in 2022, only four defendants received appointed lawyers in justice court. Thirteen defendants got court-appointed lawyers in the circuit court, the article reports.

The two justice court judges, Judge Trent Howell and Judge Janet Caulder, did not comment on their appointment rates to reporters working on the investigative report.

Caulder said, however, that she tells defendants about their right to a lawyer. But she doesn’t ask whether they can afford one, and she doesn’t appoint one unless they request it.

“I don’t question them. I don’t try to force indigency on them,” she said.

Howell said he has a duty to spend taxpayer money wisely. He is more likely to appoint a lawyer if a defendant is in jail, he said. In one case in which a woman accused of shooting and wounding her stepfather, Howell said, “She just didn’t strike me as an indigent person.”

“Mississippi is among the worst states in the country in providing attorneys for poor criminal defendants,” the article reports. “It’s one of a handful of states where public defense is managed and funded almost entirely by local governments, and the way they do so varies greatly from county to county. Defendants in some places see appointed lawyers quickly and remain represented thereafter; elsewhere, sometimes right over the county line, defendants can wait months just to see a lawyer or can go long periods without having one at all.”

The Mississippi Supreme Court has issued several rules intended to improve the process.

“But it is up to locally elected judges to carry out those mandates, and there’s no oversight to make sure they’re doing it right,” the article reports.

Lisa M. Wayne, executive director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, told the Marshall Project that Mississippi is an outlier.

“We don’t hear from many places other than Mississippi of judges simply ignoring or deferring the question of whether the right to counsel applies,” Wayne said.

The mother of a Black 10-year-old boy arrested in Mississippi for urinating behind her car while she went into an office on a personal errand has filed a lawsuit against the police and the city where it happened.

Latonya Eason alleges in her federal lawsuit that police in the small town of Senatobia used excessive force in August when they jailed her son Quantavious Eason “like a regular a criminal” and ordered him to serve a probation term before his case was dismissed in his favor.

The federal lawsuit names the city of Senatobia, Chief Richard Chandler, the officer who arrested the boy and four other officers.

“We firmly believe that every individual, regardless of age, deserves to be treated with dignity and respect by those sworn to protect and serve,” said the family’s attorney, Carlos E. Moore, in a news release. “It is our firm belief that law enforcement agencies must prioritize the protection of citizens’ rights and well-being, especially when dealing with vulnerable populations such as children.”

The drama happened on Aug. 10 when Latonya Eason went into an office for what was supposed to be a short visit while her son and his sister waited in the car. But while waiting, her son told his sister he needed to use the restroom, court documents said.

While his mom was finishing up inside the building, Quantavious said he could not wait to go to another place to use the bathroom and needed to go now.

“Without his mother’s permission, he decided to discreetly relieve himself by opening his mother’s car door and using the restroom behind the door, so as to not expose himself,” court documents said.

A Senatobia police officer saw him, notified his mom, gave her a verbal reprimand and sent them on their way. She also verbally reprimanded him, “as any parent does to their child,” court documents said.

But then five officers arrived and told Latonya Eason her son “must go to jail” for urinating behind her car door, the lawsuit alleges.

Quantavious was put into a police cruiser and jailed. He was charged in Tate County Youth Court for being a “child in need of services” before he was released to his mother.

As Law&Crime reported, Tate County Youth Court Judge Rusty Harlow Jr. ordered the boy to serve a term of three months probation and undergo drug testing at the probation officer’s discretion. He was also prohibited from having weapons. Harlow also ordered the boy to write a book report on late NBA star Kobe Bryant as a penalty. His mom refused to sign the probation document when she learned of the conditions the judge ordered.

Harlow ultimately reversed course, dropping the case.

The lawsuit alleges charges were filed because of “personal animosity, bias, and lack of reason outside the interests of justice.”

Latonya Eason said it was unconscionable her child was arrested and ordered to serve probation for doing what “the average child” and “probably some grown men” would do when they have to go and there’s no public bathroom.

The lawsuit alleges police negligence caused her and her son “embarrassment, harassment, PTSD, shock, and other physical, emotional, and traumatizing injuries.”

“Instead of enjoying activities a child would enjoy, his youth is tainted by malicious prosecution,” said the lawsuit, which seeks $2 million in damages for physical injuries, emotional distress, mental anguish and attorney’s fees.

One officer was no longer employed and other officers involved were disciplined, the chief said days after the incident in a Facebook post.

A representative from the police department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday from Law&Crime.

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3. Alabama ready to help other states with ‘humane’…

Death Penalty

Alabama ready to help other states with ‘humane’ nitrogen executions after gas caused inmate to ‘shake and writhe’

By Debra Cassens Weiss

January 30, 2024, 8:58 am CST

Alabama is ready to help other states carry out “humane” nitrogen gas executions after using it for the first time Thursday to kill inmate Kenneth Smith, the state’s attorney general has said.

Republican Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall called the execution “humane” in a Jan. 25 press release, even though a report by a reporter from the Associated Press said Smith “began to shake and writhe violently, in thrashing spasms and seizure-like movements” after the execution began. The shaking continued for at least two minutes.

The U.N. Human Rights Office and the European Union criticized the execution method, USA Today reports.

In a press conference Friday, Marshall said Alabama stands ready to help other states with nitrogen hypoxia executions, Reuters reports.

“Alabama has done it, and now so can you,” he said.

Oklahoma and Mississippi have approved nitrogen gas executions, according to Reuters.

Marshall also indicated that 43 other Alabama inmates have sought nitrogen gas executions.

Smith was executed for his role in the 1988 murder-for-hire killing of Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett, a pastor’s wife. The pastor, who later killed himself, allegedly sought the murder to collect on an insurance policy.

Smith was initially scheduled for execution in November 2022, but executioners were unable to insert an intravenous line before the death warrant expired.

The U.S. Supreme Court had twice declined to stop the execution, in decisions Jan. 24 and 25, the New York Times reports.

On Jan. 24, the Supreme Court refused to block the execution based on the argument that the second try constituted cruel and unusual punishment.

On Jan. 25, the high court refused to act based on an argument that Alabama wasn’t ready to try the untested execution method, subjecting him to an unconstitutional risk of cruel and unusual punishment. The Supreme Court’s three liberal justices dissented.

“Having failed to kill Smith on its first attempt, Alabama has selected him as its ‘guinea pig’ to test a method of execution never attempted before,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in her dissent.

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3. Mother of boy arrested at age 10 for public…

Juvenile Justice

Mother of boy arrested at age 10 for public urination won’t sign probation agreement

By Debra Cassens Weiss

December 21, 2023, 12:14 pm CST

The mother of a 10-year-old boy arrested in Mississippi for urinating in public won’t be signing the probation agreement, according to the family’s lawyer.

Lawyer Carlos Moore said Tuesday the mother “cannot in good conscience accept a probation agreement that treats a 10-year-old child as a criminal,” the Associated Press reports.

“The terms proposed are not in the best interest of our client, and we will take all necessary steps to challenge them,” Moore said.

The agreement is similar to an adult probation agreement in that it bans the use of weapons and requires drug tests if the probation officer wants them, Moore said. The agreement also imposes an 8 p.m. curfew.

The child, who is Black, was arrested in Senatobia, Mississippi, on Aug. 10, when police saw him urinating by his mother’s car while she was in a lawyer’s office. Police put the youth in a squad car and held him in a jail cell, the mother has said. Police said he was not handcuffed.

The child was charged with being a minor in need of supervision. Moore said prosecutors threatened to upgrade the charge to disorderly conduct if the case went trial.

Judge Rusty Harlow, a Tate County, Mississippi, youth court judge, sentenced the child to write a two-page book report and to serve three months of probation. The boy was not declared delinquent or in need of supervision, Moore told CNN after the hearing.

Senatobia Police Chief Richard Chandler has said the officers violated their training on dealing with children, and one of them is no longer employed.