First, let me say that I greatly appreciate all of you who took the time to read the trial transcripts and post your thoughts, whether they agreed with us or not. If you have not read it, I encourage you to do so, and welcome your thoughts and comments.
We have never had any experience with the Court System or even a Lawyer for that matter, so all of this has been an eye opening experience for us.
In reading your post, I was glad to see that many of you have realized that this could be you, your son/daughter, or anyone who carries a gun in �an area known to have wildlife�. It is our 2nd Amendment right to carry a gun. These boys were doing just that-LEGALLY.
Boys Testifying in Court - For those who have said the boys should not have testified in court, that they hurt themselves on the stand � I AGREE 100%. But please know that they were not prepared in any way, shape or form by our Lawyer, at the time, prior to taking the stand.
We received notice that we had a Court date of 4-2-14 about 2 weeks or so before the actually date. When I received the notice in the mail I immediately picked up the phone and called the Lawyers office. He was not in but I spoke with his secretary. I let her know that we had received the notice and I wanted to know what we should expect. Had they heard anything about the motion to dismiss or is that what this court date was for. Her response to me was, we just got the notice also and don�t know anything else. I asked her to please have him call me.
A week went by and I still had not heard from him. I called his office again, the Monday prior to our court date. Again, I was told by his secretary that he was not in. I asked if they had found out anything concerning the court date and was told that all they knew was that we would have to be in court on 4-2-14 . Needless to say my aggravation level was HIGH. The Attorney had previously given me his cell number and said to text him if I had any questions, not being able to get a response from his office, I sent him a text message�. NO RESPONSE.
We did not see the Attorney, or speak with him again, until the morning of 4-2-14 about 30 minutes before the boys were to appear in court. We were told that Judge Lovell had denied the motion to dismiss and he had found out at 6:00 the night before. Prior to this date, the last contact we had with him was around March 5th, when we emailed asking if he had filed the Motion to dismiss.
We went into the court room, Judge Lovell called the Attorneys to the bench. They spoke for a few moments and then our attorney asked us to step outside.
Once outside the court room, he informed us that if they boys would plead guilty to a lesser charge that the penalties would not be as bad. He went on further to say that one of the current charges carried a 6 month jail term and the Judge could invoke that if they were found guilty. All 3 boys said they would not plead guilty to something they did not do.
We all went back into the court room and proceeded with the Bench trial. No preparation of the boys prior to taking the stand, no pictures that we had previously provided our Attorney were presented in court, nor was Mr. Morrows behavior when he confronted them addressed. Furthermore, after the trial, we asked the boys why they did not say anything about Mr. Morrow�s demeanor when he approached them, which was aggressive and confrontational. All 3 boys said that the Attorney told them not to say anything about that because it would just be their word against his. I was flabbergasted!!!!! The ENTIRE CASE is their word against his!
Youthful Offender � In hindsight I wish we had not filed for this. My son wanted to be a Game Warden and was in school for this. We thought that filing for YO status would help him in the future. As we have come to learn this was probably not the best decision/advice that we received. Several people have told us that this could definitely hinder him in the future YO status or not. I do believe that the outcome would have been different had we had a trial by Jury. However, we never thought the case would even get this far. But as they say, hindsight is 20/20.
Reserved Deputy or not? � According to Mr.Morrow�s testimony Sheriff J Williams had �designated� him a reserve deputy.
16 Q What do you have to go through to become a 17 reserve deputy? 18 A It's merely a process with the sheriff 19 designating you a reserve deputy and you qualify 20 with them. Of course, I qualify every year
I would hope that there is more to it than a Sheriff saying I appoint you a Reserve Deputy. Some paperwork, documentation etc� If not we are all in some serious trouble.
Let me also say that in District Court Mr. Morrow was asked the same question and answered it a little differently. He said that he did tell the boys he was a Reserve Deputy and admitted that he was not at the time. When asked why he would tell them that he said that he was trying to calm the situation down.
One has to wonder why the case went any further or why after admitting in court that he �impersonated� a police officer was something not done � I believe impersonating a police officer is a felony.
Are there transcripts from District Court? No, we were not aware that there was no court reporter or recording of court proceedings in District Court unless you pay for a court reporter. Had we know this we would have DEFINANTELY paid to have one there. It would probably have saved us A LOT of money in the long run.
It is my understanding that when we appealed to the Circuit Court, it was a whole new trial and nothing from the previous trial could be considered. Everything would be presented as new evidence etc� One has to wonder about this prior statement � had the boys not been advised to not say anything about his demeanor would this have come out?
As far as Mr. Morrow�s �standing in the community� � While some may hold a person in high regard in the community, in my opinion, this should not come into play in a Court of Law. With that said, Judges are still human beings, have friends, personal beliefs etc� But, I feel that, if a Judge cannot separate him or herself from these things, including a person�s �standing in the community� and rule solely on the facts presented then they should recues themselves. While we all like to think we can remain impartial � I want you to think about this- if you had a close friend that you grew up with and had known most of your life � and someone that you didn�t know came up and told you something negative or unlawful that this person had done, your first thought would be I just don�t believe that, I have known him/her all my life. This is simple human nature� but I believe that a Judge must hold himself above this when in a Court of Law.
Like many of you, I�m sure, I have had conversations with people, watched TV shows and read articles where people who were convicted in a court of law are proclaiming their innocence. And, like some of you, my first thought was yeah right!, I bet there is something they are not telling us etc.. After what we have experienced, I will not be so quick to discount their claim.
While these are just misdemeanor charges and many would call minor charges they will stick with these boys for the rest of their lives unless we can get it overturned. While YO status makes their record sealed, law enforcement can still see it and a Game Warden is considered Law Enforcement. So the chances of my son ever doing what he wants to do are slim. There is something wrong with 1 man being able to do this to 3 teenage boys.
Where we stand now- We have retained a new attorney who is not from the area. He filed a motion for a new trial which was denied. We have filed an Appeal with the Alabama Criminal Court of appeals is now just waiting.
We have nothing but respect for Law Enforcement of any kind as well as the court system. We have always taught our kids to do right, stay out of trouble, abide by the law and to treat others with respect. While we will continue to instill and uphold these values in them - their belief in what we, as a parent, have told them as well as in our Justice System have been called into question by this ordeal.
Like I said earlier, If you have not read the transcript I encourage you to do so and welcome your thoughts and comments no matter if they agree with ours or not. You are also welcome to PM me.
Keep in mind that this was just 3 boys driving down a public road with an unloaded gun in the truck at night�.. nothing more nothing less.. Many of you have done this and many will be doing the same thing tonight.
I hope that by telling our story, this will help someone and/or their son or daughter from having to experience this.
