February 4th, 2008
Memphis Man Indicted for Federal Civil Rights Violation in Killing of
African American Code Enforcement Officer
Washington, DC – A federal grand jury in Memphis returned a two-count indictment last week, which was unsealed today, charging Dale Mardis with a federal hate crime and using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence for his role in the 2001 murder of Shelby County Code Enforcement Officer Mickey Wright. Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, David Kustoff, United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, My Harrison, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Memphis Field Office, and Mark Luttrell, Shelby County Sheriff announced the indictment.
The indictment alleges that on April 17, 2001, Mardis willfully shot and killed Wright, an African American, because of his race and because of Wright’s position with Shelby County government. The second count of the indictment charges Mardis with violating a separate federal statute by using a firearm to commit the hate crime. The indictment also includes a special finding by the grand jury that Mardis killed Wright in an especially heinous, cruel and depraved manner. If convicted, Mardis faces a sentence of life in prison.
United States Attorney Kustoff said, “This indictment accuses the defendant of conduct that constitutes a federal hate crime. It is a violation of federal law to intimidate, oppress, injure or threaten a person because of his race and because he was exercising or enjoying rights guaranteed and protected by the laws and Constitution of the United States. In this case, Mickey Wright had a constitutional right to work as a Shelby County Code Enforcement officer.”
The case was investigated by investigators with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Steve Parker and Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Jonathan Skrmetti.
An indictment is only an allegation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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