Video: Attorney General Drops Charges Against MS. Representative

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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Mississippi’s attorney general has dropped criminal embezzlement charges against Republican state Rep. Brian Aldridge because of the death of a key witness.

The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports Attorney General Jim Hood said Thursday the testimony of Florence Aldridge, Aldridge’s aunt, would have been needed in the trial. She died in April.

Brian Aldridge, of Tupelo, and his parents, Janice and Louis Aldridge, were indicted for allegedly embezzling funds from her while Louis Aldridge had power of attorney over her estate while she was ill.

The 2013 charges stemmed from a civil trial. Hood says the charges would not be dropped Aldridge’s parents because testimony from the civil trial can be used in the criminal trial.

Aldridge’s attorney, T.K. Moffett, did not immediately return a message Thursday for comment.