 Anthony Fox (Photo: WJTV)
Several police officers, including 34-year-old Detective Anthony Fox, converged on Jones Avenue, where they decided to question people gathered outside a home for a barbeque. Sixty-two-year-old George Robinson was holding the barbeque to celebrate his recent recovery from a stroke. At the time, Robinson had just pulled up in his car after returning from the store.
Fox later contended that he saw a woman approach the car and put money inside in what he thought was a drug transaction. When he attempted to extricate Robinson from the car, a struggle ensued. Another officer, Lincoln Lampley, who had arrived with Fox, joined Fox in removing Robinson from the car. Witnesses gave varying accounts of what happened. Some said that Robinson was slammed to the pavement and then stomped on.
Paramedics were summoned and treated Robinson at the scene for abrasions on his head. He was charged with two misdemeanors – failure to obey a police officer and resisting arrest – and was released on the spot.
Robinson drove to the Mustang Inn where his girlfriend, Constance Johnson, lived. She said he told her that the Jackson police had beat him up. He had a bloody bandage on his head. Johnson left to go to the store and when she returned, Robinson was lying on his back and said he was okay. But 15 minutes later, he began foaming at the mouth and shaking. She called 911 and emergency personnel found him lying face down and in distress.
At the hospital, doctors discovered a subdural hematoma and performed emergency surgery on his skull to ease the pressure. On January 15, two days later, Robinson died.
His death prompted an outcry from family and community members. Nine months later, in October 2019, family members filed a lawsuit against Fox, Lampley and officer Desmond Barney alleging the use of excessive force that resulted in Robinson’s death.
The three officers had been placed on paid administrative leave after the accident. The Jackson Civil Service Commission had ordered them to be reinstated after an internal affairs investigation cleared them of wrongdoing. But the city had not done so, pending the results of an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi, the FBI, and the Hinds County District Attorney’s Office.
The federal officials declined to prosecute, but on August 5, 2020, a Hinds County grand jury indicted Fox, Lampley and Barney on charges of second-degree murder. They were accused of slamming Robinson to the pavement and “striking and kicking George Robinson multiple times in the head and chest.” All three surrendered on August 13, 2020 and were released on bond.
Lampley and Barney went to trial in May 2021. On May 20, 2021, Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Faye Peterson acquitted them. Judge Peterson said the prosecution had not presented any evidence that the officers committed any criminal acts. “There was nothing on its face that was illegal,” Peterson ruled. “The detention of a suspect is not a criminal act and there was no proof presented that they were conspiring.”
In July 2022, Fox went to trial before a different judge and a jury. Ronnie Arnold, a friend of Robinson, testified that Robinson had just returned from the store when a man and woman approached Robinson's white sedan to ask him for change to buy some drinks from Connie Bolton, who sold snacks and canned drinks out of her home across the street. The man and woman had previously asked Arnold for money, but he said no.
Police vehicles were parked at the corner of Jones Avenue and Washington Street, and Arnold heard the officers telling people to get away from Robinson's car and telling Robinson to get out of the car. Arnold testified that Robinson was saying to one of the officers, “I can't move too fast, sir.” Arnold also said he heard Robinson say he was trying to take his seatbelt off, but that “Fox end up snatching the door open and grabbed him and throw (sic) him on the ground…His head and…[h]is whole body” made contact with the ground.
“He hit it hard,” Arnold said. “He started bleeding” from his head. Arnold testified that “Fox had his knee on [Robinson's] back and his arm on his shoulder, like, pushing his head up against the tire. His head was on the tire.” Arnold said that when Robinson was allowed to stand up, “blood was coming from his head.”
Arnold said that after Robinson was cited with the two misdemeanor charges, he was allowed to get back in his car and drive away.
Bolton testified that Fox “snatched [Robinson] out and then body slammed him…and dip[ped] him and swung him on the ground.” She testified that she saw “his head hit the ground.” Fox then “raised his foot and stomped him” with his booted foot, she said.
Children were present outside Bolton's home, and she said she took them inside so they would not be exposed to the altercation. She came back outside and began videoing the scene through Facebook Live. The prosecution introduced the video as an exhibit at trial. She can be heard on the video saying that she “d[id]n't know if he's going to jail or the hospital” because “they really worked him over” and that the police were “kicking people[‘s] ass.” She testified she could see Robinson standing next to the police SUV, and his “head was bleeding.”
Lampley testified that when he and Fox got out of their patrol car on Jones Avenue, Lampley went in the front yard, around the barbecue grill, and Fox went to Robinson’s car parked in front of the residence. Lampley saw Robinson in the driver's seat of the vehicle and a female standing by the driver's side. Lampley did not notice anything suspicious or illegal happening at the vehicle, but he “wasn't necessarily paying attention to the vehicle” and directed his attention “back to the individuals in the front yard barbequing.”
But before Lampley could talk to anyone in the front yard, he “heard a commotion” behind him. Lampley heard Fox making “[l]oud commands.” Fox's voice sounded “distressed.” Lampley went to the car where Robinson was still seated in the driver's seat. Fox was outside the car. Lampley testified that “Detective Fox had [Robinson's] left arm, the one closest to the door, secured, attempting to remove Mr. Robinson from the vehicle.”
Robinson was turned toward the center of the car with his hands between the driver's seat and center console. Fox continued “attempting to secure his left arm and get him out of the vehicle and giving him loud commands to exit the vehicle and stop reaching,” Lampley said.
Lampley said he moved to help Fox remove Robinson from the car. He testified: “I come in, directly behind Detective Fox. I reach in with my right hand over Mr. Robinson's right shoulder. I grab [the] shoulder of his clothing. Bend him forward, slightly, and we pulled him out of the vehicle, together.” He testified that they “weren't able to hold him up,” and Robinson dropped to his knees and then to the ground.
Because Robinson had an abrasion on his head, police called for an ambulance. Paramedic Andrew Aycox with American Medical Response (AMR) testified that he responded to the scene that night, but the call was canceled by police after the ambulance arrived. He testified that the call came in at 7:43 p.m., and he arrived on the scene at 7:56 p.m.
He admitted that his initial report indicated, “We canceled on scene. No patient contact. No patient found by law enforcement.” He said he had amended his report the following day when he learned that Robinson's “condition had changed.” Aycox testified that he was able to add a narrative to his report and tried to enter more information, such as his initial impression of Robinson, but was unable to do so because certain screens were locked due to the cancellation status of the call.
Aycox testified that despite the initial notation of “[n]o patient contact,” he applied a small bandage to Robinson's forehead. Aycox's amended report indicated that he observed an abrasion on the right side of Robinson's forehead “with bleeding controlled naturally,” meaning it had stopped bleeding on its own before Aycox arrived. The bandage covering the abrasion was described as “a 4 by 4, folded in half, twice.” Time records showed Aycox was on the scene for approximately five minutes.
Aycox testified that Robinson, in terms of consciousness, was rated at a 15 on the Glasgow Coma Scale, the highest rating for patient alertness.
AMR personnel Krystopher Holman and Shawn McEwen were dispatched to the Mustang Inn at 11:13 p.m. When they arrived at 11:18 p.m., Robinson was lying face down on the bed, unconscious. Holman observed “some swelling up side his head” and “a little cut or scratch, maybe.” Robinson's arms were tucked in front of him, and his legs were twisted inward, indicating decorticate posturing, which McEwen testified occurs due to “involuntary muscle contractions” resulting from “some type of head injury.” McEwen testified that this time, Robinson was rated at a six on the Glasgow Coma Scale.
Robinson was taken by ambulance to the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC), where doctors discovered that he had a subdural hematoma, or collection of blood, on his brain and performed an emergency craniotomy to relieve the pressure. Robinson had a medical history of diabetes and hypertension and had recently been hospitalized from December 25-26, 2018, for stroke-like symptoms.
State Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Mark LeVaughn testified to the results of the autopsy, which Dr. Brent Davis had performed. The autopsy report listed the cause of death as “at least three blunt injuries” to the head and the manner of death as homicide. Toxicology reports showed Robinson tested positive for marijuana and cocaine.
In the summary and interpretation portion of his report, which was admitted into evidence, LeVaughn opined that Robinson “died as a result of multiple blunt injuries to his head. This is evidenced by facial abrasions, scalp contusions, brain contusions, subdural hematoma and brain swelling. These injuries resulted in his death. In addition there was evidence of hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Toxicology was non-contributory in his death. Medical records were reviewed. With the currently available information and postmortem findings, the cause of death is Multiple Blunt Head Trauma and the manner of death is Homicide.”
LeVaughn testified that there were at least three blunt injuries to Robinson's head because there were three separate abrasions. He indicated that these injuries were consistent with someone's head hitting the pavement, but he testified that he could not determine, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, how much force was required to cause these injuries. While he agreed with the defense contention that such injuries could be caused by slight force, he maintained that he could not determine the amount of force that caused Robinson's injuries.
Dr. LeVaughn also testified that Robinson was taking the blood thinner Plavix and aspirin and that he was hypertensive, making him more susceptible to bruising and bleeding upon a minor impact.
Fox testified that his SWAT unit had been activated early on January 13 as a result of the robbery-homicide of the church pastor. He said his unit was sent back to Jones Avenue, where they had searched a house earlier in the day. At this point, they had a photo of a suspect in the murder investigation. When they turned onto Jones Avenue, Fox said he was contacted by officer Barney, who instructed him to pull over and talk to the people along the street.
While Fox was pulling over to park, he saw Robinson's car and a woman standing at the driver's side window. Using the lights on his SUV, Fox said he could see money in her hand, and then she “stuffed the money inside of the vehicle.” According to Fox, this gave him a reasonable suspicion that “something was going on.”
On cross-examination, however, Fox admitted that he did not say anything to Lampley about seeing what he believed was a drug transaction before they exited the vehicle.
Fox said he walked toward Robinson's car. When the woman looked at Fox, she withdrew her hand from inside the vehicle, and he could see that she still had the money in her hand. When the woman began to walk away, Fox gave her an oral command to stop. Fox testified that the woman kept walking and went out of sight.
Fox said he was at the rear of Robinson's car and saw Robinson in the driver's seat. He said there was a large amount of money scattered on the passenger seat. Fox testified that “[i]t possibly, could have been what I appeared or assumed to be a drug transaction.” Fox told the jury that when Robinson turned and saw him in a police uniform, Robinson “begins to start reaching with his right hand between the driver's seat and the center console.”
At that point, Fox said that he gave loud, oral commands for Robinson to stop reaching and asked him what he was reaching for. When Robinson ignored his commands, Fox said he opened the door and grabbed Robinson's arm. Fox said he was not trying to pull Robinson out of the vehicle at this point; instead, Fox was just holding him and telling him to stop reaching. According to Fox, Robinson then pulled him halfway inside the door frame and continued to twist his body toward the center console. Concerned that Robinson was reaching for a weapon, Fox un-holstered his weapon and, while still holding onto him with one arm, continued to give Robinson oral commands to stop reaching.
Fox testified that Lampley then started giving Robinson oral commands, and at the same time, pushed Fox forward to try and help him remove Robinson from the vehicle. Fox holstered his weapon and began using both hands in the effort to remove Robinson. Fox said that Lampley grabbed Robinson by his jacket and ducked Robinson's head out, and they pulled him out of the vehicle.
Once out of the vehicle, Fox testified that Robinson “goes to a clutching posture,” with his right hand over his left hand in the area of his midsection. The officers were telling Robinson to stop resisting as they were trying to pull his hands apart. At first, Robinson was in a standing position, but he was trying to drop to the ground. According to Fox, they tried to “guide” him to the ground. Fox was holding Robinson's left arm, and Lampley was holding his right arm. Fox said when they could not hold him up, they just guided him to the ground.
“It wasn't a slam. It wasn't a thump. It wasn't anything of that nature,” Fox declared. “We let his own body weight take him to the ground as we held him by the arms.”
Fox said that Robinson was still moving around on the ground, and Fox believed he was trying to eat some drugs. Fox said Robinson was moving his head on the asphalt and got into a half-fetal position. Once Robinson got his hands close to his mouth, he stopped resisting. Fox stated that they cuffed him while he was still on the ground.
During cross-examination, Fox admitted that no weapon was found on Robinson or in his vehicle. While Fox testified that he saw some drug residue in the vehicle, he did not include that in his report, and Robinson was not charged with any drug offense.
Defense witness Dr. Timothy Usee, an expert in diagnostic vascular interventional radiology, testified that he regularly diagnosed subdural hematomas in patients and frequently diagnosed traumatic injuries. He testified that in his experience, when a patient is on Plavix and comes to a hospital's emergency department with any complaint related to the brain or an abnormal level of consciousness, “the indication says you need a head CT [scan] because a substantial number of subdural hematomas are associated with no recognized or documented trauma of any kind.”
Dr. Usee testified that after Robinson was admitted to the hospital on the evening of January 13, 2019, a CT scan had been taken “from the top of his head to the top of his thighs.” He called the CT scan the “gold standard” for diagnosing hemorrhages, and, in this particular case, it was “the only accurate picture we have of Mr. Robinson and his body prior to the surgery on his brain.” Dr. Usee was asked, “[I]n your opinion, what physical injuries did Mr. Robinson sustain during his interaction with the police?” He responded, “Based on the CT, which was the only picture of him, after that incident, they were relatively minor."
Dr. Usee testified that the CT scan showed a “small contusion” and swelling over Robinson's right eye, which he described as “relatively mild superficial injuries.” The CT scan revealed no fracture to the “thin bones” of the face, which he testified do not “take much to break,” and no fractures to any other bones. No evidence of bruising under the skin existed. Rather, “the CT findings outside the brain were all normal, completely normal.”
Dr. Usee told the jury that the brain contusion that was described in the autopsy report was not present on the CT scan taken when Robinson was admitted to the hospital. Rather, in his opinion, several of the injuries described in the autopsy report occurred during the craniotomy.
He said that none of the injuries were present at the time the CT scan was done. “In this particular case, there was subdural hemorrhage. There was absolutely no contusion on the brain. We see that very well. There was no basal ganglia hemorrhage and there was no subarachnoid hemorrhage on that CT that was performed prior to surgery.”
Asked what that meant, Dr. Usee said, “It tells me, unequivocally, that it was the result of the surgery he had. Which is a major surgery, as you can see, by the skin staples. I mean, they cut your scalp open and they take a saw and cut out a large part of your skull to open it up and it causes trauma.“
Asked if it was possible that the trauma that caused the abrasion also caused the subdural hemorrhage, Dr. Usee responded, “Based on a minor trauma, a patient on Plavix, yeah. Having a minimal trauma, bumping your head, I'd have to say that's very possible.”
However, he stated that if Robinson were slammed to the ground, he would have expected to see much greater injuries. “Frankly, a man of his size, I would expect fractures of his face, especially, given the size and the superficial location of the bones in that area. I would expect a lot more soft tissue injury than I'm seeing on the autopsy pictures and on the CT.”
Dr. Jonathan Arden, an expert in forensic and anatomical pathology, testified for the defense that Robinson's death was incorrectly classified as a homicide because there was “a great degree of uncertainty of when he received his injury, whether he received more than one injury and how it happened.” He testified that Robinson's injuries were not consistent with a person “being body slammed, head first, into the pavement” because “[t]hat kind of activity of slamming the face into a hard surface, would have caused a much greater degree of bruising, which we didn't see. Probably would have caused more scraping that we didn't see. Very likely, would have caused, what's called a laceration, which is when the tissue splits open…He didn't have any. Facial fractures would be likely. He didn't have any.“
Dr. Arden further testified that no injuries were present consistent with Robinson's being punched, kicked, or stomped in his head or chest, and if he “had sustained those kinds of injuries, he would have bled or bruised more severely than your average person” due to being on Plavix.
Dr. George Russell, an expert in orthopedic and trauma surgery testified that Robinson’s injuries were “superficial abrasions.” He found that the injuries were “not consistent with being body slammed, head first, into the pavement.” Other than the abrasions, “[t]here was no other trauma to any other part of the body.”
On August 4, 2022, the jury convicted Fox of culpable-negligence manslaughter. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, but all but five years were suspended.
In July 2023, the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office, which handles criminal appeals for prosecutors in the state, filed a motion during the appeal asking that Fox’s conviction be vacated. The motion said that the prosecution had failed to prove a core element of the manslaughter charge, which is the “wanton disregard of, or utter indifference to, the safety of human life.”
In response, the Hinds County District Attorney’s Office issued a statement criticizing the motion as politically motivated, and said it could find no other case in the past in which the attorney general’s office took such a position.
On January 30, 2024, the Mississippi Supreme Court vacated Fox’s conviction and ordered the case dismissed.
“To sustain a culpable-negligence manslaughter conviction, the prosecution was required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Fox committed an act of negligence so gross as to be tantamount to a wanton disregard for or utter indifference to the safety of human life and that the victim's death was reasonably foreseeable under the circumstances,” the court declared. “Based on the credible evidence presented at trial, no evidence establishes that Fox acted in a grossly negligent manner or that the victim's death from minor abrasions was reasonably foreseeable under the circumstances.”
“The State concedes error on this issue,” the court noted. “After review, we likewise conclude that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict.”
The court agreed with the defense and the attorney general that the descriptions of what happened given by the witnesses on the scene was “impossible based on the medical evidence.”
On February 7, 2024, after the case was dismissed in Hinds County Circuit Court, Fox was released from prison.
He filed a claim for compensation from the state of Mississippi, and on April 18, 2024, he was declared wrongly convicted, and he was awarded $75,617.
– Maurice Possley
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