When Lawyers Fall Out: Tim Case & Tony Hughes

It's always sad when friends fall out, especially when it's public. A very public lawsuit has now been filed in Lauderdale County that pits Florence super attorney Tim Case against the recently arrested former cop Tony Hughes.

Here's the interesting timeline of their "friendship":

February 2003 - Florence police patrol officer Anthony Baxton (Tony) Hughes is arrested on charges of Domestic Violence. He retains Florence attorney Tim Case to represent him.

September 2003 - Hughes, who resigned his position with the local police, is working for Mr. Case as an investigator. In other words, Case took a chance and offered to help Hughes out when he needed it.

December 2012 - Hughes has finished law school and has been taken under Mr. Case's wing. Case thinks so much of Tony that the former cop is named an honorary pall bearer when Mr. Case's father passed away. 

December 2018 - Hughes represents Ronald Warren (Ronnie) Powell in a criminal matter involving insurance and securities fraud that reportedly netted Powell hundreds of thousands of dollars.

January 2020 - Mr. Case files a civil suit against recently arrested Hughes and now convicted felon Ronnie Powell accusing them of the systematic theft of thousands of dollars related to insurance fraud.

This is breaking news, and we have not yet seen a copy of the lawsuit. Yet from the facts that are known, it would seem that Tony Hughes allegedly found a very odd way to repay Mr. Case for his kindness over the years. The Lauderdale County District Attorney's office is scheduled to present its insurance fraud case against Hughes to an upcoming grand jury.

Jackie Chiles Weighs In On The Case

To Those Who Want to Sue Tony Hughes

Since the arrest of Florence attorney Tony Hughes hit the headlines, we've had several contact us with tales of malfeasance and outright theft perpetrated by the disgraced lawyer. To those we suggest:

Never Trust a Man in a Clown Tie

1. If you just want your story told, there are currently two individuals who are behind movements to "expose" the attorney or to report on his alleged malfeasance. 

a. The Expose' - This involves a custody case. We take such cases with the proverbial grain of salt. If you wish to help the young man in this case, contact us and we will give you details on how to contact him.

b. The News Story - This involves an attorney and a private detective who have been working on a case in which Hughes represented the defendant. We have been aware of this case for some time and have been expecting the story to be published for several weeks now. If you simply want to discuss your problem with one of these two gentlemen, we'll be happy to give you contact details.

2. If there was actual theft, you should contact the district attorney in your county or the county in which the crime occurred. It's just a personal opinion, but contacting the bar association does little good unless there is legal paperwork to back it up.

3. No Criminal Case - If you feel you may not have a criminal case against Hughes, but that his lack of action hurt you financially, you are not alone. While we cannot give out the name of Reader A to Reader B, etc., we can take your contact info and forward it to a gentleman who wishes to initiate a civil suit against Hughes. Would you get your money back? Our guess would be no, but you might derive some personal satisfaction.

Good luck!

Thanksgiving Turkey Tony Hughes?

Turkey No. 1

Turkey No. 2

Over the years, we've had several friends who told us of being victimized by Tony Hughes, either when he was a police officer or later when he was practicing law. In fact, when we once told an unnamed someone in this blog that he should consider us the blind man on the corner, we were speaking to Hughes.

Today Anthony Baxton Hughes was arrested on three counts of insurance fraud, and we hear more charges could be in store. We've already had readers ask about his law license - that is something we don't have a clue about. Hughes could voluntarily surrender it or the bar could remove him from practice. We'll try to keep everyone up to date.

Google regularly publishes reviews of attorneys and other professionals, as long as they aren't libelous. Let's look at some that the Internet giant has previously published:

1, Dirty lawyer I fired Toney because I did feel that he had good intentions for my case try to milk me of money after that he called my landlord and informed them of my charges and tried to get me put out my apartment building he told all my information and put the Florence Police Department on me and tried to help them lock me up.. not a good lawyer to deal with

2. The staff was kind and friendly but didn't return phone calls and we were told our paperwork had been submitted, when in fact, it was lost in a stack of other file folders. It seemed to me, that once they had our money we were ignored and put on the back burner. I will not be using their services, ever again.

3. I am a veteran and he make jokes and thought it was funny...... the bar won’t find it as funny I don’t believe

Warning stay away from this “attorney” he currently works part time as a prosecutor for rogersville al
He has several complaints with the Alabama State Bar regarding unprofessional behavior in the court room and stalking
Rude unprofessional unethical

4. blocked his number to leave a voicemail and was very rude

5. He seems like a very nice man but I have tried for a month now to get with him about possibly hiring him. Every time we schedule an appointment he calls and cancels or I get there and he has left the office for the day. Today was the fifth time he had rescheduled me for 7 this morning and I sat outside his office for 45 minutes and he never showed only to text and say he thought we were meeting tomorrow. When tried to reschedule he never responded. Just really let me down.

6. Very unhelpful & rude !! Don't call

7. Rather not...

These are obviously from disgruntled clients, so you may take them however you wish. We'll update our readers when the Alabama Attorney General releases more information.

Drunk?

The man suffered from chronic migraines. When a migraine came on, and they could come on suddenly, he would be forced to lie down, his brain in a fog of pain.

One night this man (who lived far from the Shoals) stopped to have drinks with friends. As he got into his car to leave, he felt a migraine coming on. He thought he could make it home before the most intense pain hit, but he was mistaken. Realizing he couldn’t drive in that condition, he pulled over into a nearby parking lot and lay down.

After approximately half an hour passed, the man felt better and decided to return to the road. He pulled out onto what he thought was the main highway and then into the left lane. After accelerating to 60 mph, the man hit another vehicle head on, killing the driver.

The luckless man hadn’t been on the state highway as he thought, but on an access road. His defense attorney blamed the man’s migraine for the crash. The prosecution contended that, while the man’s blood alcohol content fell slightly below the limit at the time of the accident, the driver would have known his migraine had not subsided enough to let him drive safely if he hadn’t been impaired by the alcohol.

Unusual case? Yes. How did it turn out? The driver, although not legally drunk, was convicted of manslaughter and sent to prison for several years. Was it a fair decision? While we feel for the driver in question, we have to say yes.

Is this case important? It does show that not all “drunk drivers” are evil demons just waiting to kill large families composed mainly of innocent children.

We (and other local blogs) receive regular critical comments from a man we’ll simply call Mr. N. This man sent us a comment that we cannot publish because of some of his references, but Mr. N’s main thought seems to be that Derek Clayton should sue us since we called him “drunk.”

While the word “drunk” may not be nice, it’s a perfectly adequate and much used word, synonymous with “intoxicated with alcohol.” Many cities have laws that use the word. The term “Drunk and Disorderly” is still widely used, although some prefer “Public Intoxication,” which allows law enforcement to arrest those who may not be a danger to others, but could hurt themselves.

Until Derek Ray Clayton was arrested, we had no idea that he had been intoxicated while driving. We wish him no bad luck. We would not have mentioned this case in all probability had it no bearing on the Paradise Drive situation on which we’ve blogged for several months.

The prosecution in the criminal case, as well as the defense in the civil suit brought by Cole Sellner’s mother, will contend that Clayton was driving too fast for road conditions, causing the accident. The Lauderdale District Attorney’s office will further contend that Clayton would not have been driving too fast if he had not been intoxicated (drunk). Considering defense attorney Tony Hughes’ odd comment that Derek Ray Clayton is not guilty of criminal actions even though he was drunk, we have no idea what he will contend at trial. His m.o. from the Greg Ray case seems to be wear the other side down with numerous peripheral witnesses and countless questions.

Will Clayton be found “Not Guilty” of criminal charges? Considering his blood alcohol content, we doubt it. No matter the verdict, Cole Sellner is dead, and his friend Clayton has paid countless dollars to defend himself. It’s an old public service message, but still something we should remember no matter what any defense attorney may say:

Don’t Drink and Drive.

Shoalanda

Abuse of System in Sheffield?

Former Sheffield Police Chief Greg Ray is currently on paid leave pending a civil service board hearing. That means the City of Sheffield is paying both Ray and his interim replacement, who is also fire chief. How much is this costing the city? We have no firm idea since Dewey King was already on the payroll. We do have a concrete idea that Mr. Ray feels his days as chief, working or on leave, are numbered.

Ray is paying Colbert County attorney Tony Hughes to defend him of charges related to malfeasance. The hearing, already postponed once, was scheduled for January 17th; on the 14th, Hughes requested the subpoena of several witnesses. Obviously, the subpoenas could not be processed in three days time--something we imagine Hughes, our readers, and Hong Kong garbage truck workers would probably be cognizant of.

Either former Florence cop Tony Hughes just received some extremely pertinent new information, he isn't doing his job, or he's attempting to manipulate the system in Sheffield. Only the first possibility is an acceptable one. We have to wonder why Chief Ray didn't hire Billy Underwood. We don't know his going rate, but he does get things done.

*****

Have fond memories of the Norwood Theatre? The site of the popular movie house in the Seven Points area of North Florence is now Pocket Park, but when first constructed in the latter half of the 1940s, the small theatre caused some controversy. It seems that construction materials were still in short supply, and building permits were issued for only necessary structures. The permit to build the new movie house originally stated it was to be a grocery store. After construction began, some savvy observers reported to the city that it was the only grocery store they ever saw with that much gradient to the floor, but by that time the building was well under way.

Don't you miss those days of dissembling to get around all those pointless government regulations? No? Oh, you just visit Muscle Shoals when you feel nostalgic for them.

If you just adore the Norwood theatre card pictured above, it can be yours for only 3.00 and shipping. Between YouTube and eBay, who can't relive their childhood? Link



Shoalanda