Arnold Jones pleads not guilty
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on September 27, 2016 9:57 AM
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Superior Court Judge Arnold O. Jones presides over the Rico Mitchell trial in 2015. Jones entered a plea of not guilty in federal court Monday for allegedly trying to bribe an FBI officer.
WILMINGTON -- District 8-B Superior Court Judge Arnold Jones II was arraigned in federal court Monday and entered a not guilty plea on all three charges brought against him in a federal indictment.
A federal indictment against Jones for allegedly trying to bribe an officer working for the FBI to obtain copies of text messages between his wife and another man was handed down on Nov. 3, 2015.
A superseding indictment was filed on Aug. 23 that replaced the original indictment but maintains the same charges against Jones.
The three-count indictment alleges that Jones promised a payment of a bribe to a public official, promised a payment of a gratuity to a public official and attempted to corruptly influence an official proceeding.
Judge James C. Fox presided over Jones' arraignment in Wilmington Monday, detailing the charges Jones faces and the possible penalties, including time in prison and hefty fines that will be levied against him if he is found guilty on any of the three charges.
Jones' arraignment was one of several that happened in federal court in Wilmington Monday. Jones appeared seventh on the docket, standing in front of the judge just after 2 p.m. during a court session that convened at 10 a.m.
Jones, who is 51, wore a dark colored suit with an American flag pin on his lapel, a white dress shirt, a light blue and striped tie and a New York Yankees 100th Anniversary wrist watch.
His attorneys -- Joseph Cheshire, Glenn Barfield, Geoff Hulse and Elliot Abrams -- declined to allow Jones to answer any questions about the charges he faces.
Hulse said Jones and his attorneys will release a statement on the case in the near future, declining to comment further.
A hearing on two pending motions in Jones' case has been set for Thursday at 10 a.m. in Wilmington after attorneys for the federal government said going forward with Jones' trial before the motions were acted upon would significantly influence trial proceedings.
The two pending motions, filed Aug. 3 and Aug. 12, were filed by the federal government and seek to bar admission of certain evidence in the trial.
The first motion, filed Aug. 3, is a motion to exclude characterization of issues for consideration by the jury.
According to the documents on the motion, Jones made statements to a media outlet through his counsel in a March 13 article that seek to make the jury decide "who did something wrong, Arnold Jones or the United States of America through its Justice Department," the documents read.
"Any suggestion that the jury must decide 'who did something wrong' or whether the verdict should be a 'ringing denunciation of the government's tactics' would not only be irrelevant and improper, but highly and unfairly prejudicial to the United States," the motion reads.
The motion seeks to dismiss this motion on the grounds that the evidence should be excluded from being used in the trial at a pre-trial hearing to prevent evidence or argument being presented "inviting the jury to consider the issues of 'who did wrong' or whether its verdict should be a 'denunciation' or 'disapproval' of the government's investigation or methods," the motion reads.
The second motion, filed Aug. 12, states that the pre-trial discovery process revealed Jones will attempt to use evidence to impeach the FBI task force officer, who is also an employee of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office. During the trial, that is considered disputed evidence.
"The pretrial discovery process has revealed that the defendant will attempt to use at least three inadmissible and disputed categories of evidence to impeach the FBI officer," the documents read.
According to the documents, the FBI officer will be a government witness during the trial and will be subject to cross examination and impeachment as a result.
This motion filed on Aug. 12 seeks to bar certain pieces of evidence that Jones and his counsel will seek to use in the trial to impeach the FBI officer.
Part of this motion is redacted pursuant to a court order filed on Aug. 11 directing the government to file a redacted version of the motion to exclude the disputed material Jones and his counsel would seek to use to impeach the FBI officer.
Both of these motions will be heard at a pre-trial hearing on Thursday at 10 a.m. in Wilmington.
The jury selection for Jones' trial will happen on Oct. 3, and his trial is currently set to begin on Oct. 17.
Jones is up for re-election to his superior court judge seat this year, and has campaigned for re-election under the cloud of the federal bribery indictment.
Jones won the primary election with 10,160 votes, defeating contenders Will Bland, who received 7,270 votes and Jerry Braswell, who received 5,777 votes.
Judicial races are nonpartisan.