A north Mississippi man acquitted in 2023 for stabbing a restaurant customer will be tried again for attempted murder next year.
The first-degree attempted murder trial for Lane Mitchell is scheduled for March 22 in Union County.
Circuit Court Judge Kent Smith acquitted Mitchell before the first trial ended because the victim, Russell Rogers of Tennessee, did not come to court to testify, which the judge found violated Mitchell’s right to confront and cross-examine witnesses.
After Smith dismissed Mitchell’s charge, prosecutors appealed. The prosecutors from the attorney general’s office were appointed after the district attorney recused himself from the case. They argued that the acquittal would set a precedent of dismissing “every criminal cause when a recalcitrant victim refuses to appear at trial.”
In a 5-4 decision in July 2025, the Mississippi Court of Appeals reversed Mitchell’s acquittal and returned the case to Union County for a new trial. The court said the state had the right to appeal and Smith was incorrect for dismissing Mitchell’s charge.
Mitchell appealed to the state Supreme Court, arguing that the state couldn’t appeal and that he couldn’t be retried without facing double jeopardy, which protects defendants from being tried twice for the same crime.
The high court initially agreed to review the appeal, but this year all justices agreed to dismiss the petition for review.
The case dates to a Feb. 9, 2019, stabbing at the Tallahatchie Gourmet restaurant in New Albany.
Rogers, a regular at the restaurant, had been there for several hours when Mitchell arrived to join his parents and their friends in the bar area. Staff members testified about interactions with Rogers that day, including how he seemed to make a waitress feel uncomfortable.
An hour after Mitchell’s arrival, video presented in court and included in court records shows him taking a knife from the bar and holding it behind his back while Rogers talked with a waitress. Mitchell’s father, who was the bartender, talked with Rogers and then Rogers moved toward him. Mitchell approached Rogers from behind and stabbed him in the neck three times, video shows.
Mitchell testified that he was trying to defend his father and the waitress, according to court records. He also said he believed Rogers had a weapon, but none was found.
Rogers nearly bled out and suffered a stroke. Following the attack, he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and mental issues, which later led to him being placed under a conservatorship, according to court records.
A civil lawsuit was filed while the criminal case was active, leading to years-long litigation revolving around access to Rogers’ medical records related to the stabbing.
A week before the May 2023 criminal trial, attorneys from the prosecution and defense sent subpoenas to Rogers to appear in court and testify. The Tennessee probate court overseeing his conservatorship quashed the defense’s subpoena, stating Rogers’ mental health issues from the attack made him incapable of testifying.
Appeal records show a number of accusations made against Rogers and his father, the conservator, including that they refused to talk to police investigators after the incident; that Rogers “appear[ed] to be intentionally unavailable” to testify at trial; and that the conservator inserted himself into the case. The state denied the claims.
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