Wingate was in private practice in Jackson in 1973. He was a Lieutenant in the Naval Legal Services Office of the United States Navy from 1973 to 1976, serving as a senior assistant defense counsel from 1973 to 1974 and a trial counsel from 1974 to 1976. He was an adjunct instructor at Golden Gate University School of Law from 1975 to 1976. He was an adjunct lecturer at Tidewater Community College in 1976. He was a special assistant attorney general of the State of Mississippi from 1976 to 1980. He was an adjunct professor at the Mississippi College School of Law from 1978 to 1983. He was an assistant district attorney of the Seventh Circuit Court District, State of Mississippi from 1980 to 1984. He joined the United States Naval Reserve in 1983. He was an Assistant United States Attorney of the Southern District of Mississippi from 1984 to 1985.[1]
On September 29, 2016, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals removed Wingate as judge from two cases for continued failure to rule upon pending motions.[2] This was not the first time the Court of Appeals had taken notice of Judge Wingate's judicial backlog; in 2010, the higher court criticized him for taking more than six years to issue a final judgment in a civil case.[3]
Notable cases
Wingate sentenced Chris Epps, former Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) commissioner, to 325 months (19.7 years) for corruption-related crimes.[4] Wingate cited a burglary incident in which Epps, while on bail, attempted to move material from a Flowood, Mississippi residence he previously gave up to the court, as the reason why Wingate gave a sentence that was longer than the one recommended by prosecutors, 13 years.[5] Over the objections of the NAACP, effective January 1, 2024, Wingate allowed the creation of a new Capitol Complex Improvement District Court in the city of Jackson where the chief justice will be appointed by the Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court, and the prosecutors by the Mississippi Attorney General.[6]
^Gates, Jimmie E. (2017-05-24). "Chris Epps sentenced to almost 20 years". The Clarion-Ledger. Retrieved 2016-05-27. "In his decision not to accept the prosecution's 13-year sentence recommendation, Wingate said to do so would ignore the burglary Epps committed while out on bond."
