By Carol Robinson
Attorneys for Minor High School band director Johnny Mims are asking that criminal charges against him be dismissed.
Mims, tased and arrested during a confrontation with Birmingham police month, was in the courtroom of Birmingham Municipal Judge Jeffrey Gilliam on Thursday.
No action was taken in the case, but Gilliam set a Dec. 6 hearing on the motion to dismiss. City prosecutors have 14 days to file their response to motion to dismiss.
Mims is represented by attorneys state Rep. Juandalynn Givan, Ontario Tillman and Reginald McDaniels.
“We are working to bring some type of resolution to this matter, one in which my client can be vindicated of the charges brought against him by the City of Birmingham,’’ Givan said.
“Our main goal is to make him whole,’’ Givan said. “We’re not going to accept anything short of a dismissal and we are prepared to move forward no matter what happens here in the court for a fair and just vindication of Mr. Mims in this matter.”
Mims remains on paid administrative leave.
“We get calls every day from parents who want him back at work,’’ Givan said. “They want this matter re- solved.”
“They are demanding justice,’’ she said. “For him, it’s the heartbreak of what happened, the humili- ation.”
The ordeal began Thursday, Sept. 14, during the Jackson-Olin High School vs. Minor High School football game, which was played at Jackson-Olin.
Birmingham police contended Mims didn’t comply with their order for his band to stop playing so they could clear the stadium following the end of the game.
Officer Truman Fitzgerald released this account of what happened:
After the football game ended, Birmingham officers were in the process of clearing out the stadium and observed both bands still performing.
Officers spoke with both schools’ band directors to end the performance so students and attendees would leave the stadium. Officers were able to get Jackson-Olin’s band to stop performing.
Officers approached Mims and began asking him to get his band to stop performing.
Mims did not comply with multiple officers’ requests to stop his band from performing; he instructed his band to continue performing.
A BPD sergeant was among the officers who attempted to get the band director to stop his band from performing.
During the officers’ interaction with Mims, the decision was made to place him in custody.