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Man Found Guilty After Mooning Jury

Posted on: Friday, 18 July 2003, 06:00 CDT

Jurors who were mooned by a defendant needed only 30 minutes Thursday to find the man guilty of armed burglary and aggravated battery.

Cornell Jackson, 29, punctuated his insanity defense by loudly hooting "cuckoo-cuckoo" and then dropping his pants to moon the jury on Wednesday.

Jackson will be sentenced Aug. 19.

A pair of bailiffs and two Bay County sheriff's deputies dragged Jackson from the courtroom after he exposed his buttocks during Wednesday's trial proceedings.

Jackson has claimed insanity in two assault cases.

He was convicted in April of aggravated battery and aggravated assault for a box-cutter attack on his then-girlfriend Kisha Smith on Jan. 21, 2000.

The second trial was for another alleged attack on Smith the next day. Jackson was convicted of forcing his way into Smith's home and slashing her again with the box-cutter, this time causing cuts that took about 70 stitches to close.

Defense lawyer Georgette Beller argued he had a personality disorder that caused him to attack Smith.

Beller asked for a mistrial after Wednesday's mooning. Circuit Judge Michael Overstreet rejected her motion and ordered that Jackson watch the rest of the trial from a holding cell over closed-circuit television.

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Information from: The News Herald, http://www.newsherald.com

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