Plaintiff awarded $150,000 in medical negligence case

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

02-22-2008

Attorneys for Patient First Healthcare said Thursday that it is too early to know whether they will file motions or appeal last week's $150,000 jury verdict against the company in a medical negligence case brought by an Oxford man.

After deliberating for more than four hours Feb. 15, a jury awarded James Slick, the plaintiff in the case, half of the amount requested by his lawyer in closing arguments, said Calhoun County Presiding Circuit Judge Malcolm Street Jr.

Attorneys for both parties said in opening arguments that in April 2001 Slick was given 10 times the prescribed dose of Phenergan, an anti-nausea medicine, when a medical technician misread the concentration on the label.

At dispute during the trial was whether the overdose was responsible for, or aggravated, headaches, memory loss, and other injuries that Slick claimed stemmed from the incident.

Slick's attorney, Ralph Bohanan of Birmingham, said he was satisfied with the verdict. He said Slick will not see the money awarded for damages for some time, however, due to time limits regarding motions and appeals that could be filed by the health-care company's attorneys. Post-verdict motions and appeals could take as few as 30 days — if none are filed — or as much as two years if appeals reach higher courts.

The jury's verdict denied Slick's wife's claim that she suffered damages as a result of her husband's health issues.

Jury orders British drug firm to pay Alabama $215 million

Associated Press

02-22-2008

MONTGOMERY — A state court jury awarded Alabama $215 million Thursday in its Medicaid drug price fraud suit against AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP.

The circuit court jury said the subsidiary of Britain's AstraZeneca PLC must pay $40 million in compensatory damages and $175 million in punitive damages.

"A grave misjustice has been righted," Alabama Attorney General Troy King said after hearing the verdict.

Judge Charles Price indicated he would go along with the jury's judgment.

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Coroner: Anniston man shot to death; warrant issued

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

02-22-2008

The 54-year-old man killed in Anniston early Sunday morning had been shot in the neck, according to an autopsy report released Wednesday.

Police have a warrant for a suspect in the shooting.

Anniston police investigators said they are searching for Willie Jefferson Davis, 53, with a last known address of 2700 Gurnee Ave., in connection with the murder of Jerry Lewis Turner, 54, of Anniston.

Investigators said Davis may be driving a green Toyota Camry or Mitsubishi and is believed to be armed.

According to police reports, a resident of the 300 block of K Street heard gunshots around 4:30 a.m., walked outside to investigate, and found Turner on the ground.

An autopsy conducted at the Alabama Department of Forensics lab in Huntsville concluded that Turner died from a single small-caliber gunshot wound to the upper neck, Calhoun County Coroner Pat Brown said Thursday.

Brown said the autopsy showed Turner was shot from the front, and that there were no other major wounds.

Police said they aren't sure what motivated the shooting.

Letter to the Editor Writer: "Tutor on right track"

Re “Crime’s here, there, everywhere” (Phillip Tutor column, Feb. 15):

As a concerned citizen and human being, I wondered when someone would point out that “something is rotten in Denmark.”

I am a long-time subscriber to The Star and have noticed the dramatic increase in crime, and the reporting thereof, with great concern. I have wondered aloud whether someone would take the ball and run with it.

I hope Commentary Editor Phillip Tutor’s column is the beginning of a series of articles covering the various causes and effects of crime in Anniston. It is my sincere hope that Tutor will push the “powers-that-be” for answers as to what exactly is being done to clean up Constantine and the other centers of the drug culture.

Perhaps Tutor can pacify them by offering stories as to what citizens can do to help — stories related to black-on-black crime thrown in for good measure. Maybe he could bring in some of Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford’s approaches to clean it up “one block at a time.”

Sounds to me like Pulitzer Prize material if done systematically and honestly.

Thad Miller
Anniston

Long arm of the law

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

02-21-2008

GPS devices are assigned by the courts to those who judges think may need additional supervision to prevent them from fleeing before their court dates. Photo: Nick Cenegy/The Anniston Star

It's like the long arm of the law has you around the ankle. At least that is what the Calhoun County Sheriff's Office is hoping their Global Positioning Satellite tracking system will provide for monitoring non-violent offenders and people labeled by the courts as potential flight risks.

In the year since the program's inception, 26 area residents have joined the ranks of Martha Stewart and thousands of lesser known individuals nationwide who have been strapped to a growing trend in bond enforcement.

"We try to use the technology that we have to reduce the burden in the jail system without allowing the offender to get off," said Chief Deputy Matthew Wade.

Wade said the sheriff's office has 50 of the units but is currently using 16.

Star Multimedia

Video: GPS tracking system

"It's just a tool, like DNA … neither one is fool-proof. It's a good tool to use and we try to use it as much as possible," said Wade.

He said he believes there are only two or three counties in the entire state that use the system, including Etowah and Shelby counties.

According to Wade, the GPS devices are assigned by the courts to those who judges think may need additional supervision to prevent them from fleeing before their court dates.

The sheriff's department does not select the individuals but can make recommendations about good candidates that may be in the jail, said Wade.

One good fit, so far, has been to use the device to monitor substance abusers, he said.

Once a judge has ordered GPS monitoring, the sheriff's office can maintain a chronological record of where they go.

"We are in the business of making sure we can control people, and, if we can, to do it without costing the tax payer," he said. Having proof of an offender's whereabouts can also eliminate a lot of problems, he said.

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Fite's son arrested in Cullman County arson case back in jail

Associated Press

02-21-2008

CULLMAN — An Alabama legislator's son who was arrested for his alleged involvement in a string of arsons is back in jail after authorities revoked his bond because of a recent criminal trespass charge in Hanceville.

Hanceville police arrested Jerrod Heath Fite, 20, of Cullman last week for criminal trespass in the third degree. Fite had been out on $16,000 bond since the sheriff's department charged him on Jan. 18 with two counts of second-degree arson and one count of attempted burglary.

Hanceville police said Fite was arrested Feb. 15 for being in another person's apartment.

"Based on that arrest, we initiated that his bond on the previous charge be revoked," Sheriff Tyler Roden said.

Fite is the son of Rep. Lea Fite, D-Jacksonville. He was placed in the Cullman County Detention Center.

Roden said it will be much harder for him to get out of jail now that his bond has been revoked.

A message left with Fite's attorney, Johnny Berry, wasn't immediately returned Wednesday.

Fite and Justin Craig Blanton, 19, were arrested in January for their alleged involvement in two arsons in the Johnson's Crossing area near Hanceville in December, according to sheriff's reports. There are still ongoing investigations into other fires that happened around the same time and authorities suspect they could be related.

Sheriff: Jailers waited too long in case of missing inmate

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- The Davidson County sheriff says jailers may have waited too long to take out a warrant for an escaped inmate who was initially believed to be hiding somewhere in the facility.

Terrell Watson, a habitual escape artist who reportedly is wanted for robberies in Alabama and other states, was being held on auto theft and probation violation charges when he went missing from his cell early Sunday morning at the medium-security Metro Detention Facility run by Corrections Corporation of America.

Officials searched the facility with dogs and infrared trackers, but by Tuesday they said the 33-year-old Watson escaped through a ventilation system.

Sheriff Daron Hall said CCA officials didn't take a warrant until 48 hours after he went missing.

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Police employee indicted for misusing police data

DOTHAN, Ala. (AP) -- An employee of the Dothan Police Department was arrested for misusing confidential law enforcement information.

According to state Attorney General Troy King, 34-year-old Sherri Lynn Carroll faces a 22-count indictment charging her with illegally obtaining or trying to obtain criminal records.

King said the indictment was returned on February 20th.

If convicted on all the alleged charges, Carroll, who was arrested yesterday afternoon, could face a lengthy prison sentence.

Dothan Police Chief John Powell said Carroll was placed on administrative leave. She posted a $5,000 bond and was released from the Houston County Jail

Registered sex offender charged with sexual abuse

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

02-21-2008

Calhoun County Sheriff's deputies arrested a 38-year-old registered sex offender from Jacksonville on Monday and charged him with sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl.

A press release from the sheriff's department said the East Vann Street resident was released from the Alabama state prison system in 2003 after he served 10 years for sex crimes against an 8-year-old and a 9-year-old.

He was charged with second-degree sodomy and violating the Community Notification Act. According to the release, an investigation by the Calhoun/Cleburne Children's Center, Daybreak Crisis Center and the Sheriff's Office reveled that the man had repeated sexual contact with a 13-year-old over several months last fall.

The man was in Calhoun County Jail on Wednesday night being held on $250,000 bond awaiting a March 27 court date.

7th graders arrested for bringing explosive to school

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- Four Montgomery junior high students, two 12-year-olds and two 13-year-olds, were placed in juvenile detention yesterday for bringing a homemade bomb to their school.

According to Montgomery Police Captain Huey Thornton, a spokesman, the incident happened at about 10 a.m. at Bellingrath Junior High School. He said each boy was charged with rendering a terrorist threat and possession of explosive. All the criminal charges are felonies.

Thornton said the boys are accused of bringing a bottle filled with various types of household chemicals and planned to explode it in a restroom.

Montgomery County School Superintendent John Dilworth said another student overheard the boys and alerted a school security officer about the bomb.

The boys, whose names were withheld due to the ages, were suspended. Dilworth also said each could be expelled from school.

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Information From: The Montgomery Advertiser

Offensive graffiti found on UA campus building

Associated Press

02-21-2008

TUSCALOOSA — University of Alabama officials said Wednesday they don't know who was to blame for racially offensive graffiti that was found outside a campus building.

Employees arriving for work on Monday found the words written in chalk on the steps and a wall outside Reese Phifer Hall, according to an e-mail distributed to students and staff by President Robert Witt.

"While the entire community would certainly be offended by this language, it could be particularly upsetting to African Americans and students who are part of our Greek system," Witt said in the message.

University spokeswoman Cathy Andreen said no arrests were made, and the employees who found the graffiti washed it off the building before most people arrived for classes or work.

The graffiti was discovered four days after a first-year law student made comments in a class that raised concerns of campus security officials. The comments were described in an Internet posting as odd and including possible references to school shootings.

Andreen said there was no connection between the two incidents, and school officials got medical attention for the law student.

Chairwoman delays action on campus gun bills

By Phillip Rawls
Associated Press

02-21-2008

MONTGOMERY — Bills to let professors and some students carry guns on Alabama's college campuses got delayed Wednesday by a state Senate committee chairwoman, who said she's concerned more guns would pose greater safety problems.

Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, leader of the Senate Education Committee, had scheduled the two bills by Sen. Hank Erwin, R-Montevallo, for consideration at the committee's first meeting of the year Wednesday. But she announced at the start of the meeting that she had decided to delay them until a later date to allow the committee to hold a public hearing on the measures.

Figures, D-Mobile, said several people had called her with concerns and she felt the bills needed more discussion. She did not set a date for the public hearing.

"I am personally concerned because I don't want our campuses to turn into a wild West shootout," she said.

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Homicide suspect sought

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

02-19-2008

Anniston police are searching for a man in his 40s identified as a suspect in an early Sunday morning homicide on the 300 block of K Street.

A resident heard shots, walked outside to investigate, and found Jerry Lewis Turner, 54, of Anniston, on the ground, according to police reports.

Calhoun County Coroner Pat Brown said Turner was pronounced dead at the scene around 5 a.m., but he stopped short of identifying the cause of death.

An autopsy is scheduled for today at the Alabama Department of Forensics lab in Huntsville, Brown said.

According to police investigators, officers were dispatched just after 4 a.m. to respond to reports of a shooting

Witnesses saw the suspect leaving the area in a green van, said investigators, but they are not yet sure what caused the shooting and deferred to the coroner to cite a cause of death.

No arrests in the case had been made as of Monday afternoon.

Turner's death is Anniston's second homicide of 2008.

Anyone been in a restaurant robbery?

I'm working up a story about the frequency of robberies at local restaurants (fast food and otherwise) but I'm having trouble finding someone with first-hand experience.

Showing that these robberies happen to real people and not just in the abstract is too important to telling the story accurately.

Does anyone happen to know someone that has been through this?

I appreciate the help.

-Nick

$50,000 reward offered for info on Victoria Inn rapist

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

02-20-2008

Family, friends and concerned Anniston residents have rallied to offer a $50,000 reward for information leading to the man responsible for raping a 28-year-old Florida woman after abducting her and another woman from the parking lot of the Victoria Inn.

"We don't want this to be forgotten," said the 28-year-old's mother. The Star is withholding the mother's name to avoid identifying her daughter.

The mother, who grew up in Anniston but now lives in Florida, said her family will reward tipsters whose information leads to the arrest and conviction of the man responsible for the assault.

According to Anniston police, the man kidnapped the woman's daughter and another woman at gunpoint early Nov. 2, 2007, in the Victoria Inn parking lot. He made them drive to a local ATM machine to withdraw money, ordered one of the women out of the car and raped the 28-year-old before letting them go, police said.

"This affects all of Anniston not just my family," said the mother.

If caught, the suspect will face two counts of robbery in the first degree, two counts of first-degree kidnapping and one count of first-degree rape.

Anniston police investigators said last week no significant new leads have cropped up since the assault.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 238-1414. Tips may be left anonymously.

Anniston EMS gets lease approval from JPA

By Megan Nichols
Star Staff Writer

02-20-2008

The Joint Powers Authority approved a contract Tuesday morning that will allow Anniston EMS to lease the former Lenlock Fire Station for three years. The building will be used as an ambulance sub-station.

Johnny Warren of Anniston EMS had approached the JPA in November with the desire to lease the building, but had questions with the lease agreement.

The debate: Warren, who agreed to pay $3,000 a month for use of the building, wanted the rent off-set by the amount he would pay for building insurance. The standard JPA lease agreement calls for the lessee to pay for insurance, JPA attorney Renee Kirby said.

Warren also wanted the JPA to be responsible for major structural repairs.

The result: The JPA agreed to these terms and also to pay $2,500 for roof repairs and heating and air conditioning maintenance before Anniston EMS takes over the building.

Customer robbed inside Regions Bank in Lenlock

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

02-20-2008

An armed man robbed a customer inside the Lenlock branch of Regions Bank this morning after his attempt at robbing the bank was thwarted because he couldn’t get to the tellers.

The man walked into the bank, at 5510 McClellan Blvd., shortly after 9:30 a.m. with his face covered and pointed what was described by witnesses as a shotgun or a rifle at tellers behind security glass, reported Anniston police.

Investigators said the man couldn’t get to where the tellers were because of the security features — such as security glass — built into the bank’s design.

When the man realized his efforts would be futile he turned and walked toward the door, said police. On his way out he took the small bank bag of a Florida businessman and fled on foot. The bag had no money in it, said investigators.

Investigators said witnesses saw a gold car seen leaving the area but are unsure if it was related to the crime.

No suspects in the case were in custody Tuesday afternoon.

No injuries were reported in the incident.

Kitchen fire damages Golden Springs home

From staff reports

02-20-2008

A kitchen fire left a home in Golden Springs damaged Tuesday night.

The front section of the house at 1212 Conger Road and a carport were fully involved when firefighters arrived shortly after the call came in at 6:12 p.m.

The two occupants of the home were already outside.

"Basically it appears to have been a kitchen fire that got out of control," said Assistant Chief J.J. Brooks of the Anniston Fire Department.

The fire was under control within about 10 minutes, said Brooks.

The home sustained heavy fire damage in the kitchen and carport. Vehicles in the carport were hit with debris and the rest of the house received smoke damage, he said.

There were no injuries.

Naked gunman chasing woman arrested on Mobile street

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) -- A naked gunman chased down a Mobile street by police officers was subdued with three shots from a beanbag shotgun and charged with domestic violence.

Police spokesman Officer Eric Gallichant said Lamar Miller, 30, had been chasing Shandrie Lee, 24, on Tuesday when off-duty Officer Curtis Dickerson saw them and called a police dispatcher.

Dickerson took Lee inside his home near the chase scene.

Robert McIntosh, 66, who witnessed the incident, told the Press-Register that Miller held a pistol to his head.

"He was hysterical. The cops yelled for him to stop, and he didn't stop," McIntosh said.

Beanbag shotguns fire tea-bag-sized nylon sacks filled with pellets, which travel about 70 percent slower than a standard 9 mm bullet.

Miller was treated at a hospital for bruises from the shots.

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Information from: Press-Register, http://www.al.com/mobileregister

Alabama committee chair delays action on campus gun bills

By PHILLIP RAWLS
Associated Press Writer

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- Bills to let professors and some students carry guns on Alabama's college campuses got delayed Wednesday by a state Senate committee chairwoman, who said she's concerned more guns would pose greater safety problems.

Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, leader of the Senate Education Committee, had scheduled the two bills by Sen. Hank Erwin, R-Montevallo, for consideration at the committee's first meeting of the year Wednesday. But she announced at the start of the meeting that she had decided to delay them until a later date to allow the committee to hold a public hearing on the measures.

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Loxley officers seize 285 pounds of marijuana, 3 arrested

LOXLEY, Ala. (AP) -- Three California residents - two men and a woman - are being held in a southwest Alabama jail today. Loxley police said all three are charged with trafficking marijuana.

Police Chief Chip Cason said a patrol officer discovered 285 pounds of marijuana in a minivan during a routine traffic stop on Interstate 10 east. The drug bust occurred early yesterday (Tuesday) just before 2:30 a.m.

Cason said the vehicle was rented. He declined to say why the driver was stopped, but said it's part of an ongoing operation.

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Information From: Press-Register

Siegelman lawyers say judge made errors in denying release

By Bob Johnson
Associated Press

02-20-2008

MONTGOMERY — Attorneys for former Gov. Don Siegelman say a federal judge made numerous errors when he refused to release Siegelman from prison while he appeals his conviction in a government corruption case.

The attorneys filed a new motion Tuesday asking the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to order Siegelman released on an appeal bond.

They said there was substantial reason to believe he would prevail on appeal, partly because there was no "quid pro quo" in the actions that led to his bribery conviction. The filing also argued that the charges were brought too late.

The filing by Siegelman's lawyers was in response to a January order in which U.S. District Judge Mark Fuller detailed his reasons for refusing to allow Siegelman to remain free on bond while his conviction is being appealed.

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State Rep. Todd Greeson says office searched by federal agents

Associated Press

02-20-2008

RAINSVILLE — State Rep. Todd Greeson says his office at Northeast Alabama Community College was visited by federal agents who subpoenaed co-workers in a probe of Alabama’s two-year college system.

Greeson, R-Ider, said some of his co-workers were given subpoenaes to testify before a federal grand jury in Montgomery.

“They were asking (co-workers) if I worked,” Greeson told The Times-Journal of Fort Payne.

Contacted Tuesday at the Statehouse in Montgomery, Greeson denied earlier reports that the federal agents had taken his computer’s hard drive. He said the hard drive was taken by two-year college officials, but he did not know if it was taken as part of the federal investigation.

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Teen charged with mom's murder awaits grand jury

By Matt Kasper
Star Staff Writer

02-16-2008

A Piedmont teenager charged in the December stabbing death of her mother is free on bond again, and the case has been bound over to a grand jury.

Calhoun-Cleburne Circuit Judge Brian Howell last week reinstated a $50,000 bond for Lindsey Danielle Morgan, 17, after allegations that she had made a harassing phone call while out on bond the first time turned out to be unfounded.

Morgan's attorneys on Feb. 7 waived a preliminary hearing in her case. The case next goes to a grand jury, which will decide whether to indict her.

Morgan is represented by attorneys Tim Burgess and Dave Johnson. Burgess said Friday that the district attorney will decide when to bring the case to a grand jury, but it is possible the case could be heard by a grand jury in March.

If Morgan is indicted, then a trial date would be set. She would normally remain free on bond until the case is resolved, Burgess said.

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Anniston Police investigate home invasion, robbery

By Andy Johns
Star Staff Writer

02-16-2008

Three armed men reportedly broke into an apartment Thursday evening in the Indian Hills Apartments off Greenbrier Dear Road in Anniston, robbing the two women inside.

According to Anniston police, the thieves knocked on the back door of the unit around 5:15 p.m. Thursday.

When a resident cracked the door open, the men thrust themselves inside, brandished handguns and demanded cash, police said.

One victim told police that one of the men hit her.

The women reported that the intruders had their faces covered. They could not provide a detailed description of the men.

The thieves left with cash and cell phones. Police did not have any suspects Friday.

Fire at Avondale Mill in Pell City

Consolidated News Service

02-15-2008

An effort to recycle building materials from the historic Avondale Mills plant in Pell City came to an abrupt stop Thursday morning when an accidental spark set off a fire that rapidly engulfed the building.

The shuttered plant was sold last year to Thunder Enterprises, a Chattanooga, Tenn., company that develops high-end homes, communities and resorts. The company was dismantling the 100-year-old building to recover materials for use in its developments.

The Pell City plant was opened in 1902 by the Pell City Manufacturing Co. Avondale Mills took over the plant in 1919. The plant, which at one time employed about 850 workers, closed in 2006.

Pell City Fire Chief Mike Sewell said cotton lint inside ductwork along rafters accidentally caught fire when welders were trying to dismantle steel beams in the building.

Firefighters from Talladega and St. Clair County joined in fighting the massive blaze, which was expected to continue burning through the night.

A more complete picture of a forgotten, long ago, death

By John Fleming
Editor at Large

02-17-2008

LOWER PEACH TREE — At first David Morgan didn't quite register what he was seeing drifting in an eddy at the end of a trot line he had set out just south of this spot on the Alabama River. A log, a dead turtle, he thought, before realizing with horror that it was a dead body, bloated, clad only in pants.

That was in 1967, more than 40 years ago, but it's still fresh on his mind today.

"I had run my line out down there in the river below the landing," the 73 year-old Morgan said from his home near Pine Hill in Wilcox County. "Well, he got hung up in it. It was a black fellow and he was wearing some green work pants."

The "black fellow" Morgan found that day near this isolated town in southwest Alabama was 31-year-old Rodell Williamson.

It is a name that would likely have continued to dwell in obscurity had it not appeared 12 months ago on an FBI list of suspected victims of racially motivated killings during and just before the civil rights movement.

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Several cameras catch accused teen burglar

Associated Press

02-15-2008

HUNTSVILLE — Tom Sharp Jr. wasn't kidding about his home being under video surveillance.

A 16-year-old was charged with burglary after several of the 11 video cameras stationed around the house captured his image as well as that of an accomplice and their getaway vehicle.

Sharp, who is in the video surveillance business, had placed the cameras around his property to ward off crime.

"The funny part is that on the door he went in, and on all of our doors, we have these stickers that say the house is under video surveillance," Sharp told The Huntsville Times in a story Thursday.

Authorities said one of the cameras captured the license plate of a vehicle used by the suspect and the accomplice in the break-in on Feb. 7. Sharp's wife was home at the time, and screamed when confronted by the intruders, but they fled and no one was hurt.

Mobile woman fatally stabbed near bus stop

Associated Press

02-15-2008

MOBILE — A 59-year-old woman was stabbed to death on a street near children waiting at a school bus stop early Thursday.

A police spokesman said a domestic dispute may have led to the death of Bertha Phillips of Mobile. Officer Eric Gallichant said a man was detained for questioning in the Valentine's Day slaying.

Neighbors said Phillips was stabbed near the corner of Main and Jessi streets just before 7 a.m by a man with a knife and that while she was being attacked a couple of children were waiting for their school bus a few feet away.

Man found guilty in murder of police chief

Associated Press

02-15-2008

HUNTSVILLE — A jury in Marshall County has found a man guilty of capital murder and attempted murder in the August 2003 killing of Grant Police Chief Verlon Lemaster.

The jury deliberated for only about an hour and a half Thursday before convicting Brian Butler, The Huntsville Times reported on its Web site.

The judge sentenced Butler to two consecutive life sentences without possibility of parole for the murder of Lemaster and attempting to shoot former Madison County Sheriff's Department investigator Mark Adams.

Jolley said during sentencing that Butler showed no remorse and probably deserved the death penalty. But that was not an option because Butler was a minor at the time of the murder.

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Wood seeks to toughen penalties on metal thieves

By Markeshia Ricks
Star Capitol Correspondent

02-14-2008

MONTGOMERY — People who sell stolen scrap metal could find themselves becoming more familiar with a metal they won't be able to sell: steel bars.

A bill to toughen the penalty for selling stolen metal, by including the cost of repairing any damage caused during the theft, received the green light from the House Judiciary committee during a meeting Wednesday.

Bill sponsor Rep. Randy Wood, R-Anniston, introduced legislation last session that made it illegal to sell stolen metal to a secondary recycler.

The legislation, which forces buyers to maintain records of their sales, went into effect Sept. 1, 2007.

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Immigration group releases recommendations

By Markeshia Ricks
Star Capitol Correspondent

02-13-2008

MONTGOMERY — A commission studying immigration in Alabama would make it difficult for illegal aliens to register vehicles, bond out of jail and enroll their children in school.

Documents

JIPIC Report (.pdf)

After many months of sometimes heated meetings, the Joint Interim Patriotic Immigration Commission released its recommendations to the Legislature, Gov. Bob Riley, and the Alabama congressional delegation Tuesday with little fanfare.

The report includes more than 20 state and federal recommendations that commission chairman Jay Reed said he hopes legislators will use as a guideline as they consider bills to address problems with legal and illegal immigration in the state.

There will be no public hearing on the report.

Reed said some of the recommendations such as enforcing the state's immunization requirement for attending public school need no legal action at all.

"Some of the recommendations are that there are current laws that need to be enforced," he said. "Some of the recommendations such as training state troopers and local law officers in immigration compliance will need increased funding.

The report recommends the expansion of the 287 (g) program, which trains state troopers to identify phony documents and immigration status as part of their responsibilities.

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Church forgives youth pastor for slaying

HOUSTON (AP) -- The youth minister who confessed to a 1994 killing is being widely forgiven by members of his former congregation, who say they admire his courage in finally surrendering to police.

Calvin Wayne Inman, 29, remains jailed without bail since he was charged Wednesday with capital murder in the stabbing death of a convenience store clerk during a robbery. He was 16 at the time.

During Sunday's service at the 800-member Elim Church, congregants praised the recently ordained Inman as a born-again role model taking responsibility for his sin.

"He's a hero, really," said Kelley Graham, 24. "I don't know how many people would do what he did. The Bible says you just need to confess to God. Calvin took an extra step."

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