While visiting al.com today to get updates on the damage in Tuscaloosa, one of the main headlines taking up as much space as tornado news was this:
Stephen Nodine enters guilty plea to misdemeanor marijuana possession
Out of curiosity I clicked, merely because it seemed strange that a misdemeanor marijuana case would be front-page news anywhere in the US. Unless it's a Republican politician who smokes pot and jokes about Democrats' ideas coming from "gay pot-smoking Guatamalens".
Former Mobile County Commissioner Stephen Nodine pleaded guilty to a Mobile County drug charge today in a Baldwin County courtroom...."We negotiated a plea agreement on the marijuana case," Hagler told reporters following the hearing, adding that the plea would complete his involvement with the defendant.
Under the plea, prosecutors agreed to drop felony drug charges, allowing Nodine to plead to a misdemeanor. The judge sentenced him to one year in jail, which was suspended, and two years of informal probation to run concurrent with his 15-month federal sentence.
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In December 2009, a mechanic found what appeared to be marijuana scattered on the floorboard inside Nodine's county-issued pickup truck at the county garage.
The discovery marked the beginning of Nodine's troubles. He was impeached by a grand jury, charged with drug possession, resigned from office and indicted on a murder charge in connection with the May 2010 shooting death of his girlfriend, Angel Downs.
In Alabama news stories about politicians' scandals, Democrats seem to have their party affiliation made VERY public in reporting and discussion on the case. The fact that this particular article didn't mention affiliation had me suspecting the accused was a "R".
Nodine, a Republican, was appointed to the seat by Alabama’s governor in June 2004 and won it outright in the November general election.
It appears that a year after lawyering up, Nodine's plea bargains so far will take care of the marijuana, 2,400 Lortab pills shopped from various pain doctors, and handguns that belonged to him. In short, the kinds of charges that send kids to prison for 3-10 years across the country, every day.
There was a diary a year ago about the Stephen Nodine case and the murder of Angel Downs here.
Before quoting or linking any further, here is the Facebook page for "Support Justice for Angel Downs. "
Just 5 minutes of googling this case is overwhelming, in terms of strangeness.
http://blog.al.com/...
http://open.salon.com/...
The week prior, Nodine showed up drunk and belligerent at the Oil Spill Command Center in Mobile, the heart of international focus and our national response to the largest environmental disaster in nearly a quarter-century. He was not only wearing county commission attire but had to be removed under force of arrest.
-He used county funds to purchase alcohol and fuel in New Orleans.
-Nodine used the truck to stalk, harass and abuse Angela Downs. She not only had sought advice on a Protection From Abuse court order but had needed medical treatment on occasion. In three incidents – two in New Orleans – he flashed a badge and used his official position to prevent police officers or individuals from hindering or charging him.
Over at another blog
The accused was a well liked and known public figure. He was supposedly "happily" married at the time the relationship began. And as we all know just because a person has an affair outside a marriage does not mean they kill a person. But a person who is jealous, controlling and manipulative with a teeter totter mentality if pushed and they are rejected tend to go into reaction mode. Either by working at gaining the affections back of the individual or when that does not work, the rage builds and they go into full destruction mode. Rarely do intimate partner offenders ever just walk away and move on with their lives.
Nodine Criminal History:
1979- Arrested for larceny from yard.
1985- Arrested for exposure of sexual organs.
1987- Breaks into a former girlfriend’s home and attacks her when she returns.
1988-Judgement for eviction.
1992- Strikes and kills a woman with a vehicle.
1997- Arrested for disorderly conduct and criminal mischief.
2010- Charged with possession of illegal drugs. Charged with shooting murder of Angel Downs. Grand Jury impeachment. Pleads guilty to federal gun charge.
From the news last year:
Investigators discovered several stains on the driver's side door of Mobile County Commissioner Stephen Nodine's county truck "that were consistent with blood", according to an affidavit filed Wednesday in Baldwin County Circuit Court.
Detectives also discovered two shell casings from a .40 caliber pistol in the bed of the truck, which most likely came from Commissioner Nodine's county-issued gun and not the 9mm semi-automatic pistol found at the scene.
During the search of Nodine's county truck, investigators also seized, a blue Starter brand shirt, light blue swim trunks, a tag from a Nike shirt, a receipt from Bay Shores Market, a Hilton hotel key card, a blue chair and a "piece of cardboard box from Leed's box." Detectives took two swabs from the stains on the driver's door, a swab from the running board on the driver's side, and eight swabs from inside the truck.
If you turn over more rocks, there's more:
Even in 2004, when Waffle House employees claimed that Nodine used the N-word at the restaurant on Springhill Avenue, most people in the community seemed to consider the accusation implausible. Nodine, who was a Mobile city councilman at the time, said the NAACP was trying to derail his bid for the County Commission.