Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/12/1233.asp

7/14/2006

Tennessee: Speed Trap Mayor Suspended
The speed trap mayor of Coopertown, Tennessee has been suspended after more than a dozen witnesses documented his misconduct in court hearings.

The mayor of the notorious speed trap town of Coopertown, Tennessee had his powers suspended yesterday. Robertson County Chancellor Laurence McMillan Jr. ruled after hearing a number of witnesses that Danny Crosby would no longer act as mayor pending the outcome of the trial. McMillan questioned Crosby's sanity.

"Everyone who sat through that testimony on Monday came away changed, everyone it seems, but the Mayor," wrote resident Alice Childs who witnessed the twelve-hour court session begin on Monday.

"I've never told police to do anything... but do your job," Crosby said on Thursday, as reported by The Tennessean. "That's how I instruct people to do their work."

Eighteen testified to the contrary, including a number of current and former police officers. Prosecutors charged Crosby with misusing his office and the police to attack political enemies. Officers confirmed that the mayor ordered them to issue more speeding tickets as a means of increasing the town's budget.

"He wanted storm troopers," testified former Officer Corey Mead who was fired for refusing orders. Mead testified that on Martin Luther King Day last year, Crosby, "extended his hand, and I shook his hand, and he said 'Happy James Earl Ray day.'"

View the Charges against Crosby in PDF format.

Source: COOPERTOWN MAYOR REMOVED FOR NOW (The Tennessean, 7/14/2006)

Permanent Link for this item
Return to Front Page