Ex-Ocean Springs mayor is fighting her public drunk charge. Trial date has been set.
Former Ocean Springs Mayor Connie Moran has pleaded not guilty to a charge of misdemeanor public drunk.
Moran, who was scheduled for a plea date Wednesday, has a trial date of April 15 on the misdemeanor charge, according to officials in Ocean Springs Municipal Court.
However, she told the Sun Herald on Tuesday that she and her attorney had not agreed to that date, and were not notified it had been set.
Moran was arrested the evening of Jan. 13 after Ocean Springs Police Officer Howard Rhodes spotted a woman, later identified as the 63-year-old Moran, lying on her back in the southbound lane of Washington Avenue.
When Rhodes got out to check on Moran, he said she appeared to be “highly intoxicated.”
Moran, Rhodes said, smelled of alcohol, her speech was slurred and she was “unable to stand.”
Moran had removed her shoes, the officer said, and appeared disoriented when he woke her up while she was still face-up in the street with a smile on her face.
At one point, the officer said, Moran attempted to stand up but fell down.
A second officer who went to the scene said Moran indicated she had fallen in the street. The same officer, Paris Griffin, said Moran tried to get up again to walk away, but “fell once more.”
Acadian Ambulance was called to the scene, but Moran refused medical treatment, was handcuffed and taken to the Ocean Springs Police Department for booking.
At the police department, the report says, Moran was “very irate and uncooperative,” and the arresting officers couldn’t complete the booking process. She was taken to the Jackson County jail, the report say, to be held while authorities finished the booking process. She was released from jail the following day.
Moran sent a statement to the Sun Herald on Tuesday, saying the details provided by police “are both misleading and meritless.”
“I am vigorously defending these allegations on what was nothing more than an unfortunate accident,” she said.
“On the evening in question, I slipped on a slick hill of the driveway to my home near the street as I was calling my pets back inside the house. I hit my head and scraped my elbow, and suffered resulting dizziness and confusion — later diagnosed by my doctor as a possible slight concussion.
“The arrest and allegations should never have happened, especially since it took place on and immediately in front of my private property, and there were no witnesses to the fall.”
Moran also has said she was having a hard time because of her mother’s recent death.
Moran served three terms as Ocean Springs mayor, but lost her bid for fourth term to Mayor Shea Dobson. She most recently ran for the Mississippi Public Service Commission, but former Pascagoula Mayor Dane Maxwell won the seat.
Since her arrest, the Sun Herald filed records requests to obtain all reports along with all body and patrol car camera footage of the incident, but the information has not been released because the trial is pending and is evidence in the case.
A public drunk charge is punishable by a $263 fine.
This story was originally published March 10, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
