JACKSON — Names of men who were involved in the late and controversial Mayor Frank Melton’s universe keep popping up in the convoluted accusations encircling Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith. The DA was arrested June 22 after a joint state-federal investigation alleged that he had tried to interfere in the trials of Christopher Butler and Darnell Turner, whom he had known since he was a defense attorney.
The latest name to resurface in the maelstrom is that of Robert Earl Henderson Jr., 44, who was arrested July 29 for allegedly offering a $500 bribe to one of Smith’s assistant district attorneys, Ivon Johnson, in exchange for the dismissal of charges against three criminal defendants on or about June 15, 1016.
“Henderson is charged with one count of bribery of a public official and one count of conspiracy to bribe a public official,” an Aug. 1 statement from Attorney General Jim Hood announced. Henderson was booked into the Hinds County jail with bond set at $5,000 for bribery and another $5,000 for conspiracy…