By DEBBIE BURT MYERS
Managing Editor
Whether he’s arguing a case before a jury, preparing a gourmet meal or playing in a golf championship, Mark Duncan approaches each with a style uniquely his own.
Friends and colleagues describe him as quiet and easy going in his personal life while focused and aggressive as a first-term District Attorney.
Not one to enjoy the spotlight, Duncan said he found his niche in the courtroom as a young public defender and never looked back.
He drives two miles to his Church Avenue office each morning, tackles a demanding schedule that covers a four-county district and returns home to relax with his family or to play a round of golf. Afterwards, he fires up his grill or skillet and prepares the nighttime meal for his family and anyone else who might drop by unexpectedly.
That is the kind of life Duncan dreamed of when he graduated law school, returned to his hometown with his wife and, a few years later, witnessed the birth of his son, Ben, now 16.
A graduate of Philadelphia High School, Duncan earned a bachelor of arts in banking and finance from the University of Mississippi in 1981. He entered law school that same summer, completing the three-year program in 27 months.
He met the woman he would later marry at Ole Miss, a St. Louis native who chose her father’s alma mater to earn her degree. They married after Joni graduated and during his first year studying the law.
“I went to school and she worked,” Duncan said with a laugh. “It was the best time of our lives. We lived on about $500 a month.”
While he explored other opportunities after he graduated, Duncan knew all along that he would return home.
“I’m not a city person and I knew this was a good place to raise a family,” he said.
He began his law practice in the fall of 1983, opening an office on Main Street across from city hall. He earned his first fee defending a juvenile in youth court and thought at first about having it framed.
“We needed the money, though,” Duncan said. “We had come home from Oxford with everything we owned in our car!”
Not long afterwards, the Board of Supervisors appointed him part time public defender, where he gained four years of courtroom experience. In 1988, then District Attorney Ken Turner hired Duncan as an assistant and, 16 years later, he was elected to his first term at the helm.
“I did so much trial work as a public defender that I kinda figured that was my niche in law practice,” Duncan said. “Then becoming a prosecutor gave me a chance to do that even more but now I was on the side on the good guys.”
Duncan has pretty much seen all aspects of the criminal element during his years in the DA’s office – murder, rape, drugs, armed robbery – and has sent many to death row.
Preparing for the 2004 murder trial of William Dewayne Savell was by far the most time consuming, he said.
“That case was by far the most challenging, just the sheer volume of evidence that had to be sorted through,” Duncan said.
“Before I became a prosecutor, I thought it was an easy job. But being a prosecutor is a lot harder because you have to prove everything. The defense has to prove nothing.
“There were so many details we had to make sure were in place for that trial. That was our biggest challenge. I’m a detail person. I tend to every detail.”
Attorney Chris Collins faced Duncan in the Savell trial and in several others as a public defender.
Over the past 10 years, he’s watched his adversary refine his skills in the courtroom.
“Mark has really grown in the time I have known him,” Collins said. “He is the kind of practitioner of the law that I wish all attorneys were. The practice has evolved into something where agreements between lawyers sometimes have to be reduced to writing. When we get something orally from Mark, I have confidence that he is going to honor what he said.”
Collins described his colleague as candid and focused.
“When he shows up for a trial, I know he’s going to be ready. I don’t think he and I play a lot of tricks. I’m not suspicious of what he’s going to do. I know he is going to aggressively prosecute his case,” Collins said.
Now at age 46, Duncan is preparing the prosecution for what many view as the most notorious murders of the civil rights era.
He along with Attorney General Jim Hood will prosecute Edgar Ray Killen for the 1964 triple murders of civil rights workers Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Michael Schwerner.
“The case has been very demanding on my time because there’s so much information that we had to sift through,” Duncan said.
With national and international media knocking at his door almost daily for interviews, he’s found himself in the spotlight at times. It’s been time consuming, but Duncan says it’s important that the world sees a true picture of Neshoba County.
This time they are saying something good about us so I think people need to understand how positive it has been, Duncan said of the reports that have appeared on the front pages of must major daily newspapers in the world.
With less than a week before jury selection begins, Duncan says he’s ready.
“I’m confident that we will be able to present the best case possible,” he said. “I’m never confident about the outcome of a case because that is in the hands of the jury.”
While court officials, law enforcement, downtown merchants and others are gearing up for the trial which is expected to last at least two week, many might find themselves feeling overwhelmed at times.
That’s not the case, however, for the District Attorney.
“It’s pretty easy for me to relax,” Duncan said. “I’ve always been able to leave work at work. That doesn’t mean I don’t work at home sometimes, I do. But, I can put work out of my mind usually if I want to.”
The District Attorney said some of his best work is often inspired by ideas that come to him during his leisure time at home or while driving to and from court.
“I can’t just sit down at a desk and write out a closing argument. I just can’t do that. All those things come to me while driving to court or sitting around at home watching television. After I’ve got it formulated in my mind, I’ll make notes so that I don’t forget it. That’s just my way,” he said.
In final closing arguments of the Savell trial, Duncan’s challenge to the jury centered around two simple words. He urged them to use common sense in their deliberations.
While it is widespread knowledge that Duncan is a tough opponent on any given day on the golf course, many are surprised to learn that he is a gourmet cook.
Duncan is just as comfortable preparing fried fish, served elegantly over a plate of meuniere sauce and topped with pecan butter for a large social gathering as he is grilling steaks or boiling crawfish in his backyard for a group of friends.
“I couldn’t cook in college but as I got older I started going places and eating in different restaurants and eating things that I liked but couldn’t get in restaurants around here. So I learned to cook things that I like to eat,” he said.
The secret, he said, was to buy good cookbooks and experiment by trial and error.
While Duncan may have found his niche in the courtroom, he has mastered both the kitchen and the golf course, friends said.
