Indicting That Ham Sandwich

It's an old joke that a competent district attorney can indict a ham sandwich. Obviously that's not always the case in the question of self defense. Colbert County's Bryce Graham did secure an indictment against James Christopher Martin in just four days. Is this odd? We've received some questions about the swift indictment in a case where the defendant will plead self-defense and defense of others.

The deceased was the son of a prominent Shoals restaurateur. A former Marine, Grant Campbell worked for a company his cousin owned. The shooter Martin also worked for ICS roofing. It's probably safe to assume that no matter the outcome of the legal charges, Martin won't be getting his job back.

What of Campbell's dishonorable discharge? We understand that AL.com has contacted some local news outlets in order to find out more. This is from Wikipedia:

A dishonorable discharge (DD) can only be handed down to an enlisted member by a general court-martial. Dishonorable discharges are handed down for what the military considers the most reprehensible conduct. This type of discharge may be rendered only by conviction at a general court-martial for serious offenses (e.g., desertion, sexual assault, murder, etc.) that call for dishonorable discharge as part of the sentence. With this characterization of service, all veterans' benefits are lost, regardless of any past honorable service, and this type of discharge is regarded as shameful in the military. In many states a dishonorable discharge is deemed the equivalent of a felony conviction, with attendant loss of civil rights.^[14] Additionally, US federal law prohibits ownership of firearms by those who have been dishonorably discharged^[15] per the Gun Control Act of 1968.

You can be sure that Tim Case will bring up Grant Campbell's past behavior. You can also be sure a jury will be duly influenced by the fact that Campbell was less than honorable in serving his country.



Shoalanda

Victims & Stolen M16s: It's Never All Black & White

A friend of ours recently questioned our referring to the two 17 year-old women involved in the Vina High School sex scandals as "victims." The word "victim" obviously has many connotations and certainly in legalese a victim might be one who intentionally made the wrong choices in order to promote an agenda but was deemed too young to be held responsible.

Do we personally call these two young women victims? We don't know their upbringing or in the case of Brian Keeton if any physical or chemical inducements were (allegedly) used. We're 99% sure from the details that have come to light so far that both these women need spankin' and the two coaches need divorcin'.

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Campbell's Madison Drug Bust

Now we come to a much more permanent type of  victim--a shooting/killing victim. For every victim who's murdered at random for money (think Mr. Elbert Farley in Tuscumbia), you have countless more who are murdered because of their choices and actions. That doesn't mean they should have been killed; it simply means if they had behaved in a rational, law abiding manner, they would not have been placed in a position to be murdered.

This latter group includes Thomas Grant Campbell. He's dead, so we don't know his side. We do know he willingly went to the Sheffield residence of Chris Martin. We do know that several local news agencies have pointed out that none of the three adults involved in the shooting have lived a completely law abiding life. Campbell's previous brushes with the law seems to have involved drugs and some (allegedly) stolen guns that precipitated his dishonorable discharge from the military.

This space is reserved for a sermon entitled "Life is Hard Enough without Drugs or Alcohol," but sadly such sermons never seem to reach their intended audience.



Shoalanda

"FOR A FACT" about Jason Dewayne Green

Jason Dewayne Green of Franklin County is a man in a lot of trouble whether he or his employees want to admit it or not. It's obvious Green doesn't want to admit his alleged crimes; his attorney Billy Underwood will be taking each case to trial separately (of course, the judge may have something to say about that). We would hate to have Green's legal fees.

There does seem to be some question as to just what Green has been charged with--at least according to his employee who wrote this:

You are FOR A FACT lying about the stolen cars. I mean was you around at the time? Was you one of those reporters that was surrounding them like the paparazzi if Miley Cyrus was walking down the street?,,,,, Wait.....there were no reporters , just dumb @#+=:es like you assuming. And I hate to burst your bubble honey but there was no murder. But all of any part of that is none of your business. 

It's not hard to enumerate just what Green is indicted for; let's hope we don't leave any out...

...operating an auto theft facility and 98 counts of no records for secondary metal recycling transactions over $500, all felonies.They also each face 30 counts of no records for secondary metal recycling transactions under $500 and 215 counts of scrap metal records violation. Both charges are misdemeanors.

From the same TimesDaily article: In early September, the Greens were arrested for buying and selling stolen property. Investigators said they found two tractor trailers ­— one reported stolen from Hamilton and the other reported stolen from Daleville — at the Greens’ business. Another vehicle found at the business had an altered vehicle identification number, which is against state law. Authorities said several stolen vehicles have been recovered from the Greens’ business.

Of course, the above doesn't list Jason Green's indictment for Felony Murder in the death of his girlfriend Shay Ledlow. We're guessing Green isn't sweating the auto theft charges that much.

Yes, we here at Shoalanda are obviously lying. At least we're in good company--the TimesDaily, Franklin County Sheriff Shannon Oliver, and the Alabama Bureau of Investigation. As for it being "none of our business?" The last time we checked, any one under indictment was placed there by the citizens of the State of Alabama--that includes all those who write under the banner of Shoalanda.

Related Post: Jason Green Indicted for Felony Murder



 Shoalanda

Nobody Knows...the Troublesome Facts

We sincerely strive to bring correct information to our readers; that doesn't mean we don't make mistakes. Certainly we see many mistakes in other published media. We welcome corrections and addenda, but often it's impossible to verify. Below are some thoughts on recent Shoals stories of note:

1. The weir at Cypress Creek -- it's been again reported by the TimesDaily that "at least four" have died in the drowning machine. It's not hard to locate the names of at least five who have drowned, and all should be remembered: Jerry Roberson, Allen Weeks, Max Harlan, Will Pannell, and Daniel S. Smith. If anyone knows of more victims, please send us their names and the circumstances of their deaths.

2. Sonny Tibbs -- AL.com had this to say about Tibbs: Tibbs, formerly a teacher and girls' basketball coach at the high school, was teaching at Vina Elementary School at the time of his arrest Friday; however, a source close to the school (as well as "Scout") has informed us that Tibbs formerly coached boys' basketball and has never been involved in coaching the girls' team. It's also been stated that Tibbs' duties were not changed in September, so any cover up did not involve a transfer (Apparently Vina is such a small school that all 12 grades are housed together). We welcome comment on this also.

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Both the Quad-Cities Daily and Pen-N-Sword have had some excellent articles related to Greg Aziz and his arrest. Be sure to like them on Facebook.



Shoalanda

Update on Two "Local Rape Cases"

Approximately one year ago, Army officer Aaron Lucas was arrested for the abduction and attempted rape of a child in Colorado. It then came to light that Lucas was a suspect in an attempted Hazel Green abduction and that he was a sometime visitor to the Shoals while stationed in Huntsville.

If you think the term "slime" is appropriate for the good Lt. Lucas, you may not be aiming low enough. It seems he has an identical twin brother, and...well, you fill in the blanks. His defense attorney has stated it will be up to the jury to decide if that fact has cast any doubt on his guilt. We're guessing the attorney thinks he's as guilty as Hades.

Related post:  Close to Home Sex Crime

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Moving even closer to home, there's been an extremely interesting rape case in Athens that has brought international attention to the north Alabama town. Here's the basics:

Clem Convicted

Now Clem has been sentenced. From an AP article: Austin Clem, 25, raped the young girl three times between the ages of 14 and 18-years-old and will spend two years in a reform program and three years on probation instead of being locked up. Mr Clem will also have to register as a sex offender, but the slap on the wrist outraged many in the courtroom.

Oh, but it's really a horrendous sentence to hear his defense attorney tell it. Why? From the same AP article: Some of the hardships Mr Clem will face include not being able to drink alcohol at parties or cross state lines to buy lottery tickets, the attorney explained.

Really? Many people we know don't drink alcohol anywhere, and certainly most don't buy a lottery ticket anywhere! This is punishment? If Shoalanda is ever convicted of rape, she's going to ask to be banned from eating turnip greens. That'll show her!

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Interesting thought: Lucas and Clem actually make the Vina coaching staff look good.



Shoalanda

Vina High Student Victims Were Best Friends

Gary Williams

When asked about the two current teacher sex scandals at Vina High School, Franklin County Superintendent Gary Williams replied, "I don't know how things like this happen." Perhaps that's part of the problem. We've had teacher friends who carefully chose every word spoken to students of the opposite sex; they felt such actions were needed in order to maintain a professional relationship that could never be questioned. It would seem familiarity doesn't always breed merely contempt.

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Williams has also reported to the press that the two 17 year-old girls (reported victims) were best friends. The superintendent stated that at the time of his arrest, Tibbs had been transferred to Vina Elementary School in August after a nine year stint at the high school. We're surmising someone knew something was not quite cricket.

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And just how old are these two teacher/coaches? The TimesDaily and some other news sources have stated Sonny Tibbs was 35. Arrest records, along with a college bio, list his birth date as 11/18/74, making him 39 in three days. Similarly, the age of Brian Keeton has been reported in the TD as 38. Official records list his birth date as 3/26/73, making him 40. Both more than old enough to know better.

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Sometimes reader e-mail is just too good not to pass along: I was thinking about the comment that "sex sells." It's nothing compared to death and dismemberment, but you may be able to throw that in too. The coachs' wives haven't finished with them yet.



Shoalanda

Special Report on Greg Aziz

The rumors are true: Greg Aziz Indicted

Previously from our site: Off Shore Bank Accounts

And it's only taken three years...


The Staff at Shoalanda Speaks