Birmingham Criminal Defense News: Franklin County, AL, Grand Jury Indictments

Posted on December 23, 2009 by Steven Eversole

Being an experienced Birmingham criminal defense attorney, I have the knowledge and skills to represent Alabama residents and other persons accused of committing crimes by the law enforcement agencies of this state. These criminal acts can include theft, larceny, assault, drug possession, criminal sexual behavior, murder and other crimes. As an Alabama criminal lawyer, I do believe that an individual is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. That’s something nobody can take away because it’s a Constitutional protection granted to everyone in the United States.

Recently, a Franklin County grand jury handed down a number of indictments for a variety of crimes. Many of these individuals will claim that they were unjustly accused. A trial will be held to determine the guilt or innocence of each person. Here is a selection of those indictments:

  • Aaron Andrew Adams, 22, Vina -- third-degree robbery
  • Sarah Marie Beasley, 25, Haleyville -- possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia
  • Andrew Eric Bryant, 19, Haleyville -- seven counts of fraudulent use of a credit card
  • Harold Clayton Bryant, 44, Russellville -- possession of drug paraphernalia and attempting to manufacture a controlled substance
  • Richard Henry Fisher, 25, Red Bay -- second-degree attempting to manufacture a controlled substance, contributing to truancy and third-degree theft of property
  • Tyler Blake Garrison, 18, Russellville -- four counts of third-degree burglary, three counts of second-degree theft of property and one count of attempted theft of property
  • Guillermo Castro Gutierrez, 19, Russellville -- second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, first-degree identity theft and second-degree forgery
  • Jason Anthony Hacker, 25, Vina -- third-degree burglary, third-degree criminal mischief, unlawful breaking and entering a motor vehicle and five counts of third-degree theft of property
  • Donnell Lee Harris, 44, Sheffield -- third-degree burglary and second-degree theft of property
  • Ryan Bonds Hester, 29, Phil Campbell -- possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and two counts of domestic violence third-degree assault
  • Rafe Hollander, 23, Russellville -- violation of the community notification act as a sex offender
  • Dana L. Johnson, 35, Haleyville -- possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia
  • Anthony Wayne Lane, 28, Russellville -- second-degree receiving stolen property, third-degree assault, third-degree burglary and third-degree theft of property
  • Hector Ortiz, 25, Fayette -- second-degree forgery, leaving the scene of an accident, public intoxication, resisting arrest and obstructing justice by giving false identification
  • Carey Renea Peters, 32, Vina -- second-degree theft of property, violation of protective services, attempting to possess a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia
  • Joseph Thomas Postell, 20, Harvest -- second-degree escape
  • Cody James Simpson, 20, Florence -- first-degree theft of property and third-degree burglary
  • Erskin L. Spearman, 33, Jasper -- public intoxication, second-degree possession of marijuana, carrying a pistol without a permit and certain persons prohibited from carrying a firearm
  • Robert Duncan Strickland, 19, Red Bay -- possession of drug paraphernalia and contributing to truancy
  • Tilena Ann Watson, 36, Red Bay -- second-degree manufacturing of a controlled substance
  • Roger Lee West, 28, Mount Hope -- second-degree forgery
  • David Leeander Whitman, 30, Phil Campbell -- first-degree theft of property

 

Franklin County grand jury, TimesDaily.com, November 26, 2009

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Alabama Police Report Finding and Shutting Down Meth Labs in Hale and Pickens Counties

Posted on October 21, 2009 by Steven Eversole

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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