Tyler

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- The owner and two employees of a bar raided two years ago by Jackson's mayor have appealed municipal convictions resulting from that raid, and say they want trial by a Hinds County jury.

County Justice Court Judge Jimmy Morton convicted Sandra Moore Johnson, owner of the Upper Level Bar and Grill, employee Erick Jackson and Johnson's son, club manager Tonarri Moore, on municipal charges Tuesday.

On Wednesday, a federal grand jury indicted Jackson Mayor Frank Melton, a former Tylerite and Tyler TV executive, and two of his bodyguards for taking a sledgehammer to an alleged crack house in August 2006 - the same night they raided the Upper Level.

Federal authorities also are investigating the incident at the Upper Level, Johnson's attorney, Sharon Gipson, said Friday. She said Johnson and Moore were victims, assauulted by members of the mayor's entourage.

Johnson and Jackson was convicted of interfering with a police officer, Moore of resisting arrest, and both men of using abusive language.

County Attorney Malcolm Harrison says he will wait until the federal case is resolved before proceeding with the charges involving the Upper Level. The indictment of police bodyguards Michael Recio and Marcus Wright calls their credibility into question, he said.

Wright filed the charges against Johnson and her employees; he and Recio were the only prosecution witnesses.

A three-count federal indictment charges them with conspiracy and violating the civil rights of the owner and occupant of a private home where an entourage of young men used sticks and a sledgehammer to knock out walls and windows in August 2006. The three also face a firearms charge.

Gipson alleged that members of the mayor's entourage assaulted Moore. Jackson Police Sgt. Jeffery Scott declined comment.

Johnson, Moore and Jackson all were sentenced to 30 days in jail, though the judge suspended 15 days of Johnson's sentence.

The Upper Level was closed after a chancery judge found it a public nuisance.

Moore's attorney, Chokwe Lumumba, said Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas set some impossible requirements for reopening, including one for a $1 million premises liability insurance policy.

Thomas said that from Jan. 1, 2006, until May 18, 2008, when three people were shot in the Upper Level, Jackson police had 21 incident reports about alleged criminal activity at or near the bar.

Most incidents were misdemeanors, and, except for the shooting there was no proof that they occurred in the club, Lumumba said. Shootings also have occurred at several other clubs and businesses in the city, he said.