Acquitted former officer indicted

September 22, 2004
Section: Local
Page: 1B

Camille C. Spencer
Staff

Ex-Jackson cop faces federal charge, lawyer says

By Camille C. Spencer
caspencer@jackson.gannett.com

Three years after a former Jackson police officer was acquitted of sex-related charges in Hinds County Circuit Court, he was indicted Tuesday on a federal charge of sexual battery, his attorney said.

Maceo Simmons will appear in court in November, according to Simmons' attorney Kevin Camp. He is being held at the Madison County Detention Center.

Camp said he is unsure if Simmons' federal charge constitutes double jeopardy, since he already has been tried.

"I think they're going to have a hard time in the second trial."

U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton could not be reached for comment.

Simmons, 48, then a patrolman with Precinct 3 at the Jackson Police Department, and Thomas Catchings, another Jackson officer, were acquitted in 2001 of sexual battery and conspiracy to commit sexual battery.

After a traffic stop on Sept. 19, 1999, a woman, then 19, said Simmons took her in his patrol car to a remote spot off Forest Avenue and sexually assaulted her while Catchings acted as a lookout.

The woman said she waited a year before filing a police report because she was afraid.

Catchings and Simmons were arrested in December 2000 and placed on administrative leave without pay.

Catchings, 39, was allowed to return to duty after the acquittal, while Simmons was terminated for conduct unbecoming of an officer. Simmons went on military leave with the National Guard. When he returned this year, he began seeking back pay since he said the acquittal showed police had no reason to fire him.

Simmons' wife of 29 years, Henryrean Simmons, said she thinks his constitutional rights have been violated.

"I think it was wrong the way they did him," she said. "They tried him already and are trying him again. He was found not guilty. I think that should stand for itself. My husband is innocent of that crime."

PHOTO
Simmons