A week which began with one surprise event on the Tennessee Waltz front has ended with another. Four days after state Senator Kathryn Bowers’ unanticipated decision to stand trial on charges of bribery and extortion, her already convicted Senate predecessor, Roscoe Dixon, saw his judgment day deferred for a full month – until October, on Friday the 13th. Dixon’s lawyer Coleman Garrett asked for the extension of today’s scheduled sentencing because of “personal reasons” that, as explained from the bench by presiding judge Jon McCalla, involved a serious illness involving Garrett’s younger brother, hospitalized in Jackson, Mississippi.
Tim DiScenza, the government’s chief prosecutor, offered no objection to the postponement but stressed as did McCalla, the need for Dixon’s team to keep to the newly scheduled October date. In a brief conversation with reporters afterward, Dixon, who had looked more tense Friday morning than he had during his earlier trial, acknowledged that his personal circumstances were “tough” but said he would endure through whatever came next.
