Miss. Judge Stops Investigation of Attorney’s Car Crash

A judge has scheduled a hearing Nov. 16 on whether Greenwood police can analyze medicine taken from a 41-year-old attorney’s purse after a wreck. A lawsuit says it was taken unconstitutionally without permission or a warrant, and a judge has handed down a temporary order against the analysis.

Chancellor W.M. Sanders is hearing a lawsuit brought by the father of Neysha Sanders, who is not related to the chancellor, The Greenwood Commonwealth reported.

She was airlifted to Jackson after her SUV crashed Nov. 8 on U.S. 49. Police Chief Henry Purnell says it reportedly swerved and veered into a ravine before hitting a concrete barrier.

Greenwood attorney Fred Clark sued for her father, retired attorney and former Leflore County supervisor Alix Sanders, to keep medication in the purse from being analyzed. Neysha Sanders’ mother is Circuit Judge Betty Sanders.

The lawsuit contends that analyzing the medicine would cause “irreparable harm” to Neysha Sanders, and its confiscation violated her rights against search and seizure.

According to the suit, an officer was on the way to the Mississippi Crime Lab in Jackson have the medication analyzed when the suit was filed.