Two Mississippi sisters locked up now for more than 15 years for stealing $11 have been interviewed by representatives of that state’s parole board, a step their attorney and supporters hope moves them closer to release.
Chokwe Lumumba, lawyer for Jamie and Gladys Scott, said the sisters were questioned last month following a rally in Jackson and a petition to Gov. Haley Barbour calling for their release and clemency.
“This is a positive step. It shows that they are moving,” Lumumba told BlackAmericaweb.com. “All of this happened 14 years ago and they were denied. Usually once it’s denied, the parole effort is dead. We believe the parole board is acting under the direction on the governor’s office,” adding that there have been no promises made by the government.
Parole Board shairman Shannon Warnock told the Jackson ABC affiliate the board is reading trial testimony and reviewing the sentencing guidelines given the jury at the time of the Scott sisters’ trial.
“We will process this like we do all the other cases. We hope to have it processed by the end of the year,” Warnock told WAPT.
Under the current guidelines, Jamie and Gladys Scott would not be eligible for parole until 2014.
In 1993, the Scott sisters were among three teenagers who lured two men down a road in central Mississippi. Both men were struck in the head with a shotgun and their wallets were taken.
The Scott sisters were convicted of robbery and use of a deadly weapon. They have been locked up now for more than 15 years on a double murder charge. No one was killed in the incident.
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