Jackson County Common Pleas Court Judge Danny Guice III on Wednesday dismissed allegations that Gautier Mayor Casey Vaughan was drunk and disorderly during a September concert at The Sound Amphitheater.

During the brief hearing, Vaughan’s attorney, Cameron McCormick, said the criminal pleas filed in the case did not meet the standards for charging someone with public drunkenness and disturbing the peace.

Ward 4 Councilman Rusty Anderson’s wife, Linda Anderson, signed the affidavits when she met with Gautier police about the alleged wrongdoing during a Sept. 6 Sam Hunt concert at The Sound.

However, Gautier police did not pursue Vaughan’s arrest because they needed to be present to witness the alleged wrongdoing in order to prosecute the murders.

Although Linda Anderson included a detailed story of what happened during the confrontation with Vaughan, the judge said the allegation in the affidavits did not support the misdemeanor charges.

“We obviously believe this was politically motivated,” McCormick said during a probable cause hearing in Jackson County Circuit Court.

If the judge found probable cause to allow the two charges to go forward against Vaughan, McCormick said he would encourage others to go to the police department to sign similar charges that won’t stick, despite police no criminal action ever followed.

Did the prosecutor want the charges to go forward?

In a public intoxication case, officers must witness the crime in order to make an arrest. As for the charge of disturbing the peace, the judge said everyone at the concert was likely to disturb the peace because of an outdoor concert.

Like Vaughan and his lawyer, the judge said the charges against Vaughan appeared to be “politically motivated” because they came as the election approached.

Jackson County Prosecutor Lee Farragut tried to convince the judge that Linda Anderson was entitled to her day in court and that if the judge saw and heard all the evidence, he would want the case to proceed.

But that didn’t happen.

Rusty Anderson believes the dismissal of the case was planned before the hearing ever began. He also questioned whether the district attorney reviewed all the evidence he provided in the case.

Meanwhile, Vaughan said he was pleased with the result. He and his attorney planned to issue another statement later Wednesday.

Criminal charges

Linda Anderson accused Vaughan of drunken and disorderly behavior that disturbed her peace during a September concert with Sam Hunt TO sound amphitheater. She signed charges against Vaughn for disturbing the peace by disorderly conduct and public drunkenness.

Each offense carries a maximum penalty of up to $500 in fines and/or six months in county jail.

According to an incident report, Anderson was sitting next to Vaughan at the concert when the two began arguing. Vaughan ended up “going to Linda on professional matters” about her expired business license.

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Linda Anderson claims she reached out to him and told Vaughan “she wasn’t going to talk anymore and he needed to go back to be with his family.”

As Vaughan walked away, Linda Anderson claimed that Vaughn returned and yelled at her that he was “going to get you.”

Linda Anderson and her husband described Vaughan at the time as “highly intoxicated to the point where he was spitting while yelling at Linda.” Additionally, Linda Anderson said, the confrontation was the second time Vaughan had allegedly “verbally harassed” the couple during a gig at The Sound.

After the allegations came to light, Vaughan’s attorney released a statement on Vaughn’s behalf.

“We strongly believe these allegations are politically motivated, as evidenced by the numerous statements made by Councilman Anderson and his wife regarding Mayor Vaughan’s administration,” McCormick said in a statement. “We also believe this action serves as an attempt to distract from Councilman Anderson’s own issues, particularly the public backlash he faced following a racist post on his social media account last summer. Instead of addressing these concerns, the focus has now shifted to the politically charged allegations against Mayor Vaughan.”

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Vaughan issued a statement ahead of Wednesday’s hearing: “It is unfortunate that instead of working together to continue the progress we have made in raising Gautier, we are now forced to address politically motivated allegations. I remain focused on serving the people of Gautier and will continue to work toward our shared goal of making our city a vibrant and welcoming destination.”