Heather Ellis Could Face Prison Time After Cutting the Line at Walmart
Cops Accuse Ellis of Becoming Hostile When They Asked Her to Leave the Store; She Says They Were Racially Motivated
Prosecutor Recused Himself
Satterfield denied the motion but Sokoloff later stepped down on his own, telling the newspaper that he didn't want his statements to be a distraction. Cape Girardeau, Mo., prosecutor Morley Swingle is now trying the case.
Messages left for Sokoloff and Swingle were not immediately returned, although Sokoloff told the AP that he would have filed the charges regardless of Ellis' race.
Meanwhile, the New York-based Your Black World Coalition this week staged a rally that began outside the Kennett Walmart and traveled to the prosecutor's office in support of Ellis. The protest was peaceful, according to media reports, but an earlier rally had been met with fliers reportedly distributed by the Ku Klux Klan, some reading, "The next visit will not be social."
As for Ellis, who is now a schoolteacher in Louisiana, her father said he still hoped that the case would be thrown out.
"This is a heartbreaking situation," he said.
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