Has anyone else experienced anything like this.? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


Jan 3, 2013 at 7:00 at night, my 18 year old son and 2 of his friends were driving to the family hunting camp in Lowndes County Alabama. They had an AR-15 in the back floor board of the truck with the clip removed.  They pulled up to the stop sign at  intersection of Hwy 29 and Brown Springs Rd in Lowndesboro.  They were at the stop sign approx 30 sec as they waited for a car to pass so they could turn.   

As they turned down the road to the hunting camp they noticed they were being followed.  When they arrived at the camp and got out to unlock the gate a man pulled in behind them, blocked them in and began to shout at them about shots that he heard and accused them of shooting the gun at the stop sign.  When asked he identified himself as a reserve deputy and a retired game warden.  When ask to show a badge .. He could not.

This man continued to accuse, in a not so friendly manner, the boys of shooting the gun.  The boys were concerned for their safety and told him they were going to call the police.  The man said that he had called the sheriff and he was not going to let them leave because it was a crime scene.

2 Deputy Sherrifs arrived about 30 min later, asked for the gunand their ID, inspected the gun  ran the numbers through NCIC returned the AR to the boys and told them they were free to go.

4 days later- this retired game warden ( private citizen) signed an arrest warrant on all 3 boys charging them with

  Code of Alabama 9-11-235. Hunting after dark
  Code of Alabama 9-11-257 Hunting from a public road
  Code of Alabama 220-2-11. Hunting fom a vehicle

We went to court and all 3 were found GUILTY of all 3 charges even though no one saw them shoot, only heard it.  No shell casing were found either at the intersection or by the deputies when they searched the truck. 

These boys were simply driving down a paved public road with an unloaded AR15 in the truck and stopped at a stop sign.  They were not in camo, didn't have any flashh lights or spot lights in the truck... BUT the prosecution said that they were " hunting" because they were stopped in an area known to have wildlife with a gun!

How is this legal or Constitutional?

Is it at all possible that they ARE guilty? I did a lot of stuff when I was younger that I wouldn't admit to then or now.

IF YOU have the whole truth, then I would appeal this conviction to a Circuit Court jury trial.

how do you find someone guilty of night hunting for shooting a sign(not saying they did)

did the responding deputy testify at the trial as to the condition of the gun???


whats the warrant signers name????

Was it a jury trial?

No, they are not guilty. It has been 15 months since the original incident.. All 3 tell the same story to this day independent of each other.

It would be hard to even get an arrest warrant around here if no one actually saw them fire the rifle. As a retired warden they probably gave him more latitude but if the facts you have are true I would appeal it.

We did appeal....... And they were found guilty....we did not have a jury trial because they were given YO status.

. But both deputies did testify at trial.. They testified that they looked at the gun, ran it through NCIC and the gun came back clean.  When specifically asked if they could tell if the gun had been shot, they said no they could not  tell, the gun smelled like solvent.... Like it had recently been clean.  Both deputies testified that the returned the gun to the boys and told them they were free to go.

Keep in mind a private citizen took out the warrant based on something he claims he heard but did NOT see

The entire situation is FISHY to say the least ....

The retired game warden testified in court that he called the Sherifff directly on his Southern link who then sent 2 depiuties to the site. This call was never sent through dispatch at the sheriffs office.

My first thought was there is more to this story and then I wondered, like Fred points out, when hunting season on signs opened?

JWC, they were found guilty in District Court, then appealed and found guilty(or settled) in Circuit Court???

Did the boys enter a plea bargain, inc YO status in Circuit Court??

No judge I've ever carried a case before would convict based on what you have told us, and certainly no Circuit Court would of found em guilty based on what you have said. I'd say I smell a big old dead RAT.....was the judge kin to the retired GW???

No.... We filed for YO status, which was granted. YO status waives your right to a trial by jury. I regret filing for the YO status... I think we would have come out better in a trial by jury as opposed to justhr judge.

They were found guilty of hunting at night, hunting from a vehicle and hunting from a public roadway.

Nothing was said about shooting a sign... BUT I have pictures of the stop sign with NO HOLES in it just in case hey tried to,say that..l

I know it's aa tough decision but when you settle by pleading out for Y.O. Status you give up a lot. If the facts are like you said, I would have taken it to a jury, youthful offender status still shows up as an arrest when it is looked up. Nothing can be legally expunged anymore. Some judges still sweep it under the rug for their friends but a lot of strings have to be pulled even before the booking usually.

I'd a gone with a jury trial....no witness to any shooting, no loaded gun, no fired cases, no dead animals, no holes in sign.....heck, I ain't a lawyer and I could of won that case.

I think the situation sucks. Let's say for argument sake they DID do the shooting. Even so there's not enough to convict based on what you've explained.

Very interesting. How or did the guy know they had an AR...??

Found guilty of all 3 counts in District Court... When the Judge rendered the verdict he said.... "Retired Game Warden" is a friend of mine and he has given 25 years f service as a game warden and I value his opinion..... GUILTY!!

Unfortunantely, being unfamiliar with the court system, we did not know that there was no court reporter present so none of this is on record.

We appealed to Circuit Court- filed a motion to dismiss, which was denied - according to our attorney- at 6 pm the night before we were suppose to go back to court.

When we arrived in the court room...our attorney and the prosecution went up to the judges bench... After this our attorney aked all of us to step outside. At this point he said that if the boys plead guilty we could appeal (which is not true- only for a lighter sentence) or we could go to trial but that oneonta the charges had 6 months in jail which she could impose. All 3 boys said hey WOULD NOT PLEAD GUILTY TO SOMETHING THEY DID NOT DO.

So we re-entered the courtroom and proceeded with trial.

That's EXACTLY what we thought.... Boy were we surprised! I have always been skeptical of those who were found guilty but swear they were innocent... I thought our court system was fair but I am here to tell you this has been a real eye opener.

The guy said he was walking out of his house and heard a shot and saw the truck at the stop sign. He got in his truck and followed them to the hunting camp. When the driver got out to unlock the gate he came up to them, said they had shot and asked if they had a gun in the truck and they said yes... an unloaded

He identified himself as a retired game warden and a reserve deputy... When they asked to see his badge, he told them he did not have to show them anything.

One would think that is how it would work...... But I believe this Retired Game Warden has some "strong ties" to the community.

They were fined approx 4600.00 each, 2 years unsupervised probation and 3 year suspension of their hunting license.