According to the local news reports tonight, Mayor Bill Shoemaker: "The Tuscumbia City Council will determine Chief Tony Logan's future after his sentencing." which will be Tuesday at 2:00PM.
The time has come and this will be interesting, to say the least!
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Time didn't really come. He's appealing again. More Lauderdale tax money wasted.
Just as you, Chief Logan has THE RIGHT to appeal. Would YOU want less for yourself?
Well there seems to be more than we are hearing here.
Chief Logan lived very close to my residence, I saw him very often coming and going on the area roadways. I never witnessed anything I would have thought was DUI, now I must confess, I can not remember when I saw him that he didn't have a cellphone to the side of his head. This seems normal now days, and the driving often appears very similar to that of an intoxicated driver.
Now let us pretend the Chief drops his phone while turning into his driveway, bends down to retrieve the phone, veers into his mail box, and in shock hits the City Police Cruiser in his drive, get's out of the vehicle goes inside his home has a stiff drink and goes back outside takes a seat an surveys the carnage. Minutes later up comes the Florence Police. Now at this point the Florence Policeman has not witness Chief Logan Driving, but the neighbor shows up to describe how he felt the Chief was drunk and he removed the vehicle keys from the Chief's vehicle after witnessing him running over the mail box and striking the cruiser, then he called the Police,
A good neighbor may have ignored all this shook his head and went inside his own house and minded his own business once the Chief was no longer at the controls of a motor vehicle and no danger to anyone. A good neighbor might have called the Chief's wife or even his work place if his real concern was the Chief's well being. Now why would a man call the Police after he had the keys and the Chief was not harming anything, just sitting on a bench outside his own home. Did this neighbor go to the police station and file charges against the Chief ?
When you have a problem that seems what you have to do , and even then your complaint sometimes has to be approved by the D.A. before any action is started on your complaint. Now the officer on the scene calls his superior who states in court he contacts his superior Capt. Beasley and she orders the Chief to have a blood test after the Chief supposedly refused a Breathalyzer test which is everyone's legal right. The test was administered to obtain his blood alcohol level. Now Capt. Beasley testified she no longer can remember ordering the blood test.
Now since no one knows the actions of the Chief from the time of the accident till the arresting officer's arrival, if he was intoxicated when the officer arrived, we have no idea when he got intoxicated. So why was he arrested, does his neighbor have a serious dislike for the Chief, do members of the Florence Police Dept have serious dislike for their former boss ?
If you watched the news of the trial you saw the judge order the Chief to be placed in the Lauderale Detention Center ( read Jail) overnight . This man is the current Chief of Police in a neighboring city and who had been out on bond for months, and he is placed in handcuffs and placed in a Florence Police Cruiser to be taken to a jail he was very familar with. Now I've seen convicted felony on bond be given up to 30 days to report to prison, but in this case in front of all the TV station cameras the man is paraded to the Police Cruiser in hand cuffs. And does the sentencing sound like it was made especially light in an effort to get the Chief to say O.K. I'll surrender since you made it light on me.
Now I'm not in anyway a supporter of drunk driving or even drinking alcohol, and I certainly do not approve of special treatment for anyone arrested or who is guilty of a crime large or small, But I think this water runs much deeper than the surface indicates.
Now to Mayor Bill Shoemaker, if Chief Logan happens to win his appeal and he has lost his job due to termination on a pending charge, he can seek legal action against the City of Tuscumbia for the job back and all pay lost during the termination and any claimed damages he may have incurred while terminated ( Loss of home, loss of auto, medical expenses for treatment of depression, etc). This could run into hundreds of thousands of dollar not to mention the pay the city would have to pay his replacement. I do not know Mr. Shoemaker, but it sounds like he is as shackled as the Chief was on the trip to jail. It makes no difference whether the Mayor and the Chief are enemies or best friends, till the legal proceedings are finally over, the Mayor is stuck with the Chief if he wants to save the taxpayers money, which is what I'm sure the citizen elected him to do in this incident.
Now if Chief Logan wins, he saves thousands in wages he would forfeit if he did not appeal, not to mention the fines, DUI school cost, 20% additional insurance cost over several years. Now it should be clear as to why one would appeal in this incident. Now if he loses, it cost court cost, his legal fees and possibly a good job, but it will be much easier to be hired after the several years since the incident happened and now he has a Masters Degree in Criminal Justice and several years experience as a Police Chief to add to the resume'.
Looks like a good bet considering the cards in hand, even if it proves to be a bluff.
Well that's an interesting story, but few facts. First a female reported him blocks from his house. Then after he gets home and hits his police car, his car veers across into the neighbor's yard. One report said it struck a car in that yard. So then the neighbor calls police. Hey, why didn't he just let the car stay in his front yard. Would have made a great birdbath?
So you have an arresting officer lying about Tony's condition? Could be. You have a lab that falsifies results? Could be, but doubtful. Not only that, Tony has admitted he was drinking. What more do you want? My only problem is that we're paying for his appeals.
Infomercial, just how is it you think your paying for his appeal ?
Tax dollars may enter into prosecuting him, but if he loses, or the court rules against the appeal, he will be charged court cost. The further the appeals go, the higher the court cost.
Now if the prosecution loses, then your tax dollars may be paying.
Could be why the sentence was so soft, in an effort for the prosecution not to lose in a superior court.
Guess what, if you plead guilty, and waive your right to a court appearance, you are charged court cost, without ever seeing the inside of a courtroom in Alabama.
I never said the officer was lying , I said how do we know the accused wasn't drinking after the accident and before the officer arrived. The lab results were questioned in court as to the refrigeration failing where the blood sample was kelp. But the chain of evidence was comprimised when the officer did not see the accused driving or have complete knowledge of the action of the accused to consume alcohol after the accident.
Who has a complete knowledge as to when he consumed the alcohol, or the exact blood alcohol content if any when the neighbor saw the accused driving ?
Now don't tell me the neighbor smelled alcohol on his breath, because pure ethyl alcohol 190 proof is colorless and odorless. You can smell the fermentation odors in alcoholic beverage, but not ethyl alcohol.
In almost every incident of this type, when no officer witnesses the driving, and the accused is not in the vehicle, public intoxication is the charge, Since the accuse was on private property that he had ownership rights to, then Public intoxication was invalid also. Why did the arresting officer call his superior and that superior called his superior, Capt. Beasley ?
Do you really think this is the customary chain of events in a normal DUI arrest ?
If you get pulled over while in control of a motor vehicle on public property and the officer has reason to believe or probable cause to believe your intoxicated, then a breathalyzer test is offered, if you refuse the test and do not offer to pay for a blood test, your drivers licence will be revoked for 90 days, And you can be arrested for driving under the Influence of alcoholic beverages or a control substance, the video of the arrest and booking may be shown in court to convict you along with the testimony of the arresting officer.
Only 22% of auto accidents involve known drugs or alcohol use, leaving 78% to other factors . Cellphone use related accidents are estimated to be in the 28%-30% range,
Have you ever had a auto accident? Were you drunk every time ? Did you abandon the auto in hopes it would become a great bird bath?
I'm getting a sense you don't exchange greeting cards on special days with Chief Logan.
With all the experience Chief Logan has, he knows the chain of evidence won't hold up, he just has to get it in the appeals court. And that is why he retained Tim Case.
Once the court of appeal looks at all the evidence then they will decide if there is legal grounds for a new trial. If the court denies the appeal it reverts back to the most recent verdict and sentence.
The trial he just had was his appeal to a trial by a jury of his peers as guaranteed to all accused. His first trial was before a judge and no jury.
Like I said : " I think this water runs much deeper than the surface indicates".
Seven, he doesn't have to make a claim, the accuser has the burden of proof in America. All the accused has to do is enter a plea of not guilty, and the accuser has to proof beyond a reasonable doubt to the guilt of the accused.
The appeal will likely be on the ground the chain of evidence used to convict has been compromised or is insufficient. If the appeal is granted then a new trial will begin. And a new judge and jury will hear the case.
It is always possible the the higher court after examining all the evidence will rule against the lower court and throw the case out, acquitting the accused. If that were to happen, Chief Logan may sue the city of Florence for damages and legal fees.
This could get interesting !!!
My tax dollars paid travel expenses for the judge, witnesses, etc. Also hotel rooms for one night, or was that two? It's paying for transcripts, etc. The case is also taking time away from legitimate trials. What a crock!
Infomercial, if the prosecution wins the court cost should cover all the cost you seem so worried about. They picked the fight. if they lose. then our elected officials threw away our tax dollars.
You think it's a crock, but it's know in the free world we live in as "Due Process"
Ignore most of what FatRat tells you about constitutional law and the legal process. He is influenced too heavily by television shows.
