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| Ala. Judge Orders Release of Man Wrongfully Convicted |
| By Mobile Register |
| Published: 07/28/2003 |
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A Theodore man who pleaded guilty to the wrong charge more than six years ago and consequently got a much harsher sentence was due for release last weekt after a federal judge in Mobile ordered the Alabama Department of Corrections to free him. James Marvin Mooney, 54, a petty criminal with a record going back at least 13 years, leaves Bibb County Correctional Facility more than a year before he would have otherwise. But he also served two years and four months more than the maximum that he should have according to state law. 'In the final analysis, the court is unable to imagine a more compelling example of a fundamental miscarriage of justice than that presented in this case,' U.S. Magistrate Judge Kristi Lee wrote. 'The record reflects that, through a series of missteps, beginning with an improper indictment, coupled with insufficient legal advice, (Mooney) is now serving a 15-year sentence for a crime for which he is actually innocent.' Lee submitted her report Friday to Chief U.S. District Judge Ginny Gra nade, who promptly ordered the state to release Mooney. Paperwork to complete his release was received Monday, and Mooney was to be turned loose by midnight, a Department of Corrections spokesman said. According to Lee's report, Mooney's troubles began in October 1995, when he was pulled over in Escambia County for driving under the influence of alcohol. Court records show it was his second DUI in Escambia, and he would be picked up again in Mobile County before the year was out. He pleaded guilty in December 1995 to the Escambia County DUI, and a judge gave him a six-month jail term. A month later, Mooney walked away from a work-release crew and was charged with third-degree escape, a Class C felony. With two prior felonies on his record, he fell under Alabama's habitual offender law, meaning a sentence of at least 15 years. The problem, Lee wrote, was that under another law, an inmate serving time for a misdemeanor can only be charged with a misdemeanor if he escapes. Escambia County authorities should have charged him with failure to return to a place of confinement, she concluded. But Mooney's public defender failed to catch the mistake at the time, and in 1997 Mooney pleaded guilty to the escape charge. Still, Mooney had a chance to avoid hard time. In February 1998, an Escambia County judge suspended a 15-year sentence, using it as a threat to keep Mooney straight during five years of probation. But in March 2000, Mooney's probation was revoked and he went to prison. Two years later, he appealed, claiming he'd had ineffective counsel, among other things. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals turned him down, and he took his case to federal court. Last week state lawyers withdrew their objections in writing while trying to convince Lee to spare the specifics from the record. Because the state was agreeing to release Mooney, they wrote, 'it is not necessary for the report and recommendation to contain an in-depth discussion of the constitutional issues presented by Mooney's petition.' |
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