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Jack Elliott Jr.

The Associated Press

01-07-2008

Pet food manufacturer Iams Co. contends Mississippi State University research documents it has been ordered to give People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals are trade secrets and not public record.

Iams and the university have appealed Chancery Judge Dorothy Colom's adverse decision to the Mississippi Supreme Court.

The case is among dozens the Supreme Court will hear during the January-February term. The court will not hear oral arguments in the cases. The justices will instead rely on attorneys' briefs to make their decisions.

In January 2006, PETA filed suit alleging MSU violated the Mississippi Public Records Act when it was denied records of dental experiments and other tests on animals conducted since 1999 for Iams.

The Public Records Act requires that records be furnished to the public either free of charge or in return for reasonable fees.

Iams' attorney James P. Streetman III of Jackson has argued that the experiments are the company's intellectual property. He has said Iams has made a substantial investment at Mississippi State in order to develop and protect that property.

PETA said it didn't want trade secrets. PETA said it only wanted to know what happened to the animals at Mississippi State.

PETA claimed Mississippi State wanted an advance fee of $40,497 for the documents it requested. When it reduced the number of pages asked for, PETA claims MSU told them that only 19 of the requested pages would be sent and the cost would be $1,000.

The university claimed the remaining pages contained proprietary information, according to court documents.

In her ruling in December 2006, Colom said the type and number of animals used in an experiment, whether surgery will be performed, and information related to animals' pain and discomfort do not qualify as trade secrets.

"Having carefully reviewed each and every protocol submitted by MSU and Iams, this court hereby finds that the protocols themselves are not a trade secret," Colom said.

Colom also ruled that the documents were not exempt from release under the Public Records Act.

Among other cases before Mississippi Supreme Court are:

A former Hinds County risk management consultant's appeal of a jury's verdict that he repay the county $380,000.

Hinds County sued Shappley Harris for making changes in invoices from the Mississippi Municipal Association between 2002 and 2003, increasing the cost of the premium for the county's worker compensation insurance and then resubmitting the changed invoices to be approved for payment by county supervisors.

Harris used the money as commission, authorities alleged. A Hinds County jury ruled for the county in 2006. Harris had argued that he was entitled to an agent's fee because he brokered the deal between the county and the Municipal Association.

Harris paid $190,000 to the state auditor after an annual county audit revealed the discrepancies.

The Rev. Jeffery Stallworth's appeal of a Hinds County judge's refusal to remove his name from Mississippi's sex offender registry. Stallworth contended his misdemeanor fourth-degree sex conviction and sentence were removed by a judge and the crime he pleaded guilty to in Maryland would not require a person to register as a sex offender in Mississippi.

Sex offenders are required under Mississippi law to register with the local sheriff's department and have a special identification card issued by the Highway Patrol.

Stallworth, then-pastor of Jackson's Anderson United Methodist Church, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of sexually assaulting a woman during a 2001 stay at her Maryland home.

Stallworth said with his 2002 misdemeanor fourth-degree sex conviction and sentence removed in Maryland in 2005, there was no reason for him to register as a sex offender in Mississippi.

Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter ruled in 2006 that a misdemeanor did not require registration as a sex offender in Maryland.

"Yet upon return to Mississippi, Stallworth was required to register here as a sex offender," DeLaughter said.

The Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance's recommendation of a reprimand for Lee County Justice Court Judge Rickey Thompson. The commission alleged that Thompson interjected himself in a matter before the justice court involving a family member.

The commission said Thompson in May 2006 told Lee County Deputy Clerk Shea Willis not to send out a warrant accusing Thompson's sister of assault.

The Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance's recommendation of a public reprimand for Madison County Judge William Agin.

The commission alleged Agin failed to issue an opinion in a civil case in a timely manner. The commission said Agin had previously been cautioned for a similar incident.

The commission said Agin presided over a case in March 2005 but did not issue a decision until January 2007.