Bobby DeLaughter

Bobby B. DeLaughter (born on February 28, 1954) is a Mississippi prosecutor, judge, and author. He prosecuted and secured the conviction of Byron de la Beckwith for the murder of Medgar Evers, a noted civil rights leader. The Beckwith prosecution occurred in January 1994. Evers was assassinated by Beckwith on June 12, 1963. Mississippi authorities had twice previously failed to convict Beckwith in 1964. cite web | author=Erin D’Abramo | title=Biography of Bobby B. DeLaughter | url=http://www.shs.starkville.k12.ms.us/mswm/MSWritersAndMusicians/writers/DeLaughter/BobbyDeLaughter.html | date=2002 | accessdate=2007-09-29]

Early life

DeLaughter was born on February 28, 1954 in Vicksburg, Mississippi. He graduated from Wingfield High School in Jackson. Afterward, he graduated from law school in 1977 from the University of Mississippi. He was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.

Career

In 1999, Governor Kirk Fordice appointed DeLaughter to a position as Hinds County Court Judge after the incumbent judge died of a heart attack. In 2002, he was appointed a Circuit Court Judge for Hinds County. In 1996, the events surrounding the final Medger Evers trial were memorialized in the Rob Reiner film "Ghosts of Mississippi". [imdb|0116410|Bobby DeLaughter] In 2001, DeLaughter wrote a book regarding the Evers prosecution, entitled "Never Too Late: A Prosecutor’s Story of Justice in the Medger Evers Case". . On March 28, 2008, DeLaughter was suspended from the bench indefinitely by the Mississippi Supreme Court due to allegations of bribery and judicial misconduct. | http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/03/28/national/a165738D49.DTL | date=20028 | accessdate=2008-07-21] According to the Hinds County homepage, as of 9/10/2008, Judge DeLaughter is still a sitting Judge. [http://www.co.hinds.ms.us/pgs/circuit/default.asp]

Recent life

He currently lives with his family in Raymond, Mississippi..

References