Birmingham Criminal Defense Blog : Birmingham DUI & Criminal Defense Lawyer & Attorney : Eversole Law Firm : Criminal and DUI Defense : Serving Birmingham, Montgomery, Alabama

As an experienced Birmingham criminal defense lawyer, I have the skills to represent individuals charged with crimes ranging from petty theft to grand larceny, assault to murder. As an Alabama criminal attorney, I firmly believe that a person is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law -- it’s everyone’s constitutional right. I recently read a news account by the Press-Register detailing Mobile’s 10 most wanted suspects for various crimes.

According to that article, this list of fugitives includes individuals wanted in connection with murder, assault and robbery, among other offenses. One of the men on this list is a 17-year-old boy who has been charged with fatally shooting his cousin in a park in Theodore, AL. Another allegedly beat up a friend for keeping him from driving drunk.

In all cases, the city of Mobile considers these people fugitives from the law. According to the city’s chief of police, Phillip Garrett, they each have “committed serious felony crimes and owe a debt to society." Some of those individuals and their alleged crimes are included here:

• Lamont Jermaine Fagan, 28 -- charged with murder in connection with the early-morning August 13 shooting death of Rickey Deloach in the Josephine Allen public housing community. Two other men are reportedly already in jail regarding this crime.
• Markus Dewayne Lee, 17 -- accused of shooting his cousin, Blake Davis, at a park on Diamond Road in Theodore. The victim was reportedly trying to break up a fight when he was allegedly shot by Lee.
• LaDerrick Kevon Davis, 29 -- named in five counts of unlawful breaking and entering a vehicle, authorities say he has active warrants charging possession of burglar's tools and possession of a controlled substance. The five auto break-ins of which Davis is accused allegedly took place in recent months at Chantilly's nightclub on Airport Boulevard.
• Thomas Crooke, 23 -- charged with second-degree assault, accused of punching and kicking a friend who attempted to stop him from driving away from the Whiskey Night Club because he was drunk. The friend suffered a broken shoulder and nose, according to the warrant.
• Willie Lionel Williams, 23, -- accused of first-degree robbery and second-degree assault after an individual was robbed and shot in the leg at the VIP Barber Shop on St. Stephens Road in June. Warrants also are on file against Williams for second-degree assault, first-degree burglary and first-degree possession of marijuana.

Mobile's 10 Most Wanted includes 2 murderers, 4 robbers and man who beat up, AL.com, September 10, 2009

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The economy has made things difficult for everyone. But one industry that tends to thrive in hard times is crime, either organized groups or individual criminals. Bank robbery, auto theft, white-collar crimes like embezzlement, and of course illicit drug manufacture and sales. In my years as an Alabama criminal defense lawyer, I have represented clients who have been accused of alleged drug possession, drug trafficking, manufacturing, illegal growing of marijuana, and meth lab operation, to name just a few.

Working in Birmingham, AL, I have also seen the growth of the meth industry as a way for some people to illegally make money in a down economy. Recent reports show that police have shut down two alleged meth labs in the West Alabama area.
 
According to police, raids in Hale and Pickens counties halted operation of what authorities sais were two separate methamphetamine labs. Four people were reportedly taken into custody, with police officials in both counties searching for additional suspects.

Pickens County Sheriff David Abston described one of the suspects, Christopher Wayne Kelly, 28, as a “serial burglar.” He is asking burglary victims in four West Alabama counties to report missing items. Kelly, a Tuscaloosa resident who had been staying at his grandfather’s camp house in Pickens County, was taken into custody on Sept. 1, according to the authorities.

The man was charged with third-degree burglary, second-degree theft, manufacturing a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance, first-degree possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. Kelly was placed in the Pickens County Jail on $541,500 bail.

According to reports, police searched Kelly’s residence and turned up a suspected methamphetamine lab, plus several items believed to have been stolen during a burglary in south Pickens County on August 31. Pickens County police believe that the suspect took similar items from hunting camps in Tuscaloosa, Greene, Sumter and Pickens counties.

Law enforcement officials are also looking for 33-year-old Christopher Scruggs, an associate of Kelly’s who has several warrants out for his arrest in Jefferson and Tuscaloosa counties.

In Hale County, officials charged three suspects with manufacturing methamphetamine. According to reports, Charles Tucker, 39, and his wife, Tina Tucker, 35, were taken into custody, along with 34-year-old Wade Johnson, at the Tucker’s Millwood Road residence in Greensboro. The bust was the result of an undercover investigation, which led authorities to the home where at least three suspected methamphetamine labs were in plain sight.

Police say that all three Hale County suspects face charges of trafficking methamphetamine, manufacturing methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine, and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia.

The undercover probe that identified the Tuckers as suspects also led to the identification of other suspects who sold drugs to agents of the 4th Judicial Drug and Violent Crime Task Force. Authorities said that warrants and indictments have been obtained for other suspects as well.

Alleged meth labs found in Hale, Pickens counties, TuscaloosaNews.com, September 10, 2009

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Reading a recent news report, I saw that The Shoals is way overrepresented when it comes to people on death row. Being convicted of murder is about as serious as it gets in the criminal arena, and death row is a place nobody wants to go. As an Alabama criminal defense attorney, I have represented many individuals accused of murder, homicide or manslaughter. Depending on the circumstances, some people in this situation simply do not deserve the death penalty.

At the time of the article, there were 203 inmates on death row in Alabama. Of those, 10 inmates had committed one or more homicides in Colbert, Franklin or Lauderdale counties. Five of those death row inmates from the Shoals and were there since March 2007. Many are waiting for a decision from the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals or Supreme Court.

Although more people have been sentenced to death in Colbert, Franklin and Lauderdale in the past 25 months than were sent to death row in the previous 25 years, local prosecutors are not worried the Shoals is becoming a hotbed for violent homicides.

"We're not any more violent than we have ever been," said Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly. "Every murder is violent. I just think juries are just fed up with crime and they are willing to recommend the death penalty where they feel it is warranted. There were capital murder cases here in the past where there was a conviction, but the jury recommended life without parole and the judge upheld the recommendation."

In Alabama, life without the possibility of parole and the death penalty are the only sentencing options for capital murder. Jurors recommend a punishment in capital cases, but the judge is not bound to follow the recommendation.

According to Alabama law, any time a homicide is committed for monetary gain; committed during another felony such as robbery; has more than one victim; the victim was a law enforcement officer; or the victim was younger than 14, it meets the criteria for capital murder in Alabama.

However, it does occur occasionally that when a homicide even meets the criteria for capital murder, the victim's family asks prosecutors to not pursue the death penalty. This can happen for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the victim’s family doesn't believe in the death penalty for moral or religious reasons, or they just don't want to have to spend 15 or 20 years or even more going to appeal hearings for the person convicted of killing a loved one.

Alabama death row has strong Shoals presence, TimesDaily.com, September 14, 2009

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As a Birmingham criminal defense lawyer, I find interesting the ingenuity of some people to invent new ways of doing things. From a criminal perspective, drug manufacturing is one of the more scientific pursuits. Not long ago, an Associated Press report disclosed that illegal drug manufacturers were using a new mix of ingredients to produce methamphetamine. But apparently this is nothing new to Alabama’s illicit drug industry.

While it may take a while for state and federal legislation to catch up with the new recipes that clandestine meth labs use to make their product, I’m certain that law enforcement agencies will still be arresting individuals for alleged drug manufacture and sale. The trouble for police and federal drug agents is the less conspicuous nature of this new approach.

According to news reports, most every meth lab in Alabama is using the new approach. “That’s all we’re seeing now as far as labs go,” said Albertville police Chief Benny Womack. “It’s much easier and quicker and doesn’t get as much attention. Somehow or another, these guys are better chemists than the ones who have degrees.”

Apparently, the new formula, or process, is called “shake and bake.” It uses a more simple recipe that requires just a two-liter soda bottle, cold pills and chemicals. The maker only has to mix the components by shaking the bottle. The resulting meth powder is reportedly highly addictive.

Reports for the AP reviewed lab seizures in 14 states, including Alabama, and found that the new method is spreading across the country and is contributing to a spike in the number of meth cases after years of declining arrests.

Because the volatile mixture requires fewer pills of common decongestants ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, it allows makers to skirt the law restricting over-the-counter sales of these medications. According to authorities, many meth users traveling from pharmacy to pharmacy, buying small quantities of pills to avoid attention.

The drug legislation and last year’s formation of the Safe Streets Task Force for Northeastern Alabama have combined to reduce the number of meth labs in the region, authorities said. The Birmingham Division of the FBI works directly with the Safe Streets Task Force, which includes 22 federal, state and local partners in Marshall, Etowah, DeKalb and St. Clair counties.

New meth formula avoids anti-drug laws, SandMountainReporter.com, September 8, 2009

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