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Due apparently to a lack of information sharing between Alabama and federal law enforcement authorities, hundreds if not thousands of people who are barred by law from buying hand guns, rifles and shotguns may have done so with scarcely a problem. According to a recent news report, Alabama failed to report thousands of individuals who are barred from firearms possession to the federal government. This situation could have allowed persons living in cities such as Montgomery, Tuscaloosa, Decatur and Prattville to buy firearms contrary to that allowed by law.

As a Birmingham criminal defense lawyer, I help many people across Alabama who have been accused of a crime. Not all of these individuals are guilty, and all are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. This latest news article points up the confusion that is sometimes caused by the lack of communication between state and federal agencies.

According to reports, Federal authorities and gun control advocates believe that literally  thousands of potentially unstable mental patients who have been released from state institutions now have easy access to guns because of Alabama's narrowly defined reporting law.

In one instance, a former West Point graduate who served 18 years in the U.S. Army walked into a local Bass Pro Shop and bought a shotgun, pistol and rifle. Police reports indicate that the instant background check run by store personnel in Spanish Fort failed to flag the customer as a person barred from buying a gun. The reason for this, say law enforcement authorities, is due to the fact that Alabama reports just a small fraction of mental health commitments to a national database.

The 42-year-old military veteran, David Otto Gluth, Jr., was previously treated for post-traumatic stress disorder at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Additionally, a psychiatrist who treated him at the AltaPointe Health System in Mobile, AL, stated that Gluth might also suffer from bipolar disorder with psychotic features and other problems. In 2008, he was reportedly involuntarily committed to Searcy Hospital in Mount Vernon, which made him ineligible under federal law to buy or own a gun.

Police were made aware of the potentially mentally unstable individual after he allegedly got into an argument with another customer in the store, talking about his needing a steady hand to shoot someone. A spokesman for the tore said he was confident that the company followed the law.

According to gun control advocates, if a store employee observes strange and threatening behavior from a customer it is a good indication that the gun should not be sold. This was apparently borne when Fairhope police responded to complaints of an armed man walking around the Rock Creek subdivision. They arrested Gluth and booked him on a disorderly conduct charge.

Gun loophole: Alabama fails to report thousands who are barred from firearms possession, AL.com, January 17, 2010

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As an Birmingham criminal defense attorney, I have the experience to aggressively defend individuals accused of various crimes ranging from petty theft to grand larceny and domestic violence to murder in the first degree. The innocence of defendants in a criminal trial is assumed until a conviction by a jury of their peers. No matter where you live -- Tuscaloosa, Decatur, Madison, Prattville or anywhere else in Alabama -- a jury may acquit a person arrested for a crime if the evidence gathered by the police is lacking, however in the case of some offenses the facts can be quite damning.

The trial of a man accused of fatally shooting a Huntsville police officer has seen some interesting defense tactics. According to recent news articles, Kenneth Shipp was arrested following the shooting death of Officer Eric Freeman in late 2007. The defendant’s criminal lawyer reminded jurors their job was determine whether or not Freeman's death was a result of Shipp’s intention to kill the officer, or simply a tragic result of the defendant’s reported drunkenness that evening.

According to court reports, Shipp was not only intoxicated that night, but was also under the influence of pharmaceutical drugs, which has apparently been established as fact in the case.

This is a serious situation for the defendant, who faces a capital murder charge for killing a police officer in the line of duty. In fact, the prosecution had at the time for the article stated that it would seek the death penalty if the 55-year-old man is convicted.

Based on reports, the shooting incident occurred on December 14, 2007, following what has been described as a simple investigation of a possible DUI traffic accident at Bailey Cove and Weatherly roads. However, that routine drunk driving traffic stop ended moments later when Shipp allegedly shot Officer Freeman at point-blank range with a small .22-caliber pistol.

Police reports show that Shipp shot Freeman as he and another officer, Kevin Lambert, were escorting Shipp to a patrol car to wait for a DUI investigator. When a third officer arrived, he found Lambert, Shipp and another man, a former police officer, wrestling on the ground and trying to get the gun away from Shipp.

Court records indicate that other officers arriving at the scene hear the defendant yelling that he had a bomb and demanding that they shoot and kill him. Based on news reports, Shipp’s defense team questioned whether the defendant’s behavior was consistent with intoxication. In Alabama intoxication is not a defense in and of itself. But it can sometimes be used as a defense if someone is so intoxicated that they suffer from mania and clearly don't know what they are doing.

Defense focus: Shipp intoxication, AL.com, February 02, 2010

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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, AL, criminal defense lawyer serving clients accused of sexually-based offenses, I have first-hand experience with institutional and social bias against individuals charged with sex crimes in Alabama. Regardless of the severity of the charge, no one should take such an accusation lightly. Penalties for criminal sexual behavior can be harsh, costly and long-lasting. The social and employment consequences of a seemingly minor event, should one be convicted of a sex crime, can be life altering to say the least.

A recent article makes the point loud and clear. Never take chances with the law when you have been accused of criminal sexual behavior, and always consult a qualified Alabama criminal attorney in preparation to defend yourself against what is sure to be a full-blown criminal trial. The reason is simple: Society has zero tolerance for alleged criminal sexual activity and treats convicted offenders -- or predators -- as veritable outcasts in their own home towns and local communities.

Once convicted, a sex offender is required by law to file their name and address within 10 days at the local law enforcement office. If the person moves at a later date, he or she will be required to register in the state and county within seven days of establishing new residence. If this does not happen, that person would be in violation of the Community Notification Act.

People convicted sexually-based crimes must also follow other rules, such as not living in a home with children, although an offender can live with a minor child as long as the offender is a parent, step-parent or grandparent and as long as the offender's victim was not a child under his or her care or supervision at the time of the offense.

The restrictions continue. Offenders whose victims were children under the age of 12 cannot live with a minor, nor loiter in areas where children congregate, such as schools and playgrounds. Current law prohibits convicted sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of high schools or elementary schools. And if that wasn’t limiting enough, another law recently passed by the Alabama Legislature now prohibits sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a college or university.

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