Judge denies Blakely’s motion for mistrial
ATHENS — In a one-sentence order this morning, Judge Pamela Baschab denied former Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely’s motion for a mistrial.
“Defendant’s motion to overturn and set aside verdicts returned on counts 2 and 13 of the indictment and to declare a mistrial or in the alternative grant a new trial DENIED,” the court wrote in a ruling posted at 9:44 a.m.
Blakely’s lawyers on Thursday filed a motion for a mistrial or new trial based on an affidavit from juror Sue McEwan Pentecost, 74, who said she was suffering from atrial fibrillation during deliberations.
The state Attorney General’s Office, at 7:54 this morning, asked the court to reject the motion for a mistrial, arguing that for more than a century it has been settled law that a juror’s attack on a verdict is inadmissible.
Any other rule, the prosecutors argued, quoting a 1920 case in which a juror claimed after the verdict he was having heart palpitations, “would open wide the gates to begin to set aside verdicts on showings like this.”
Pentecost in her affidavit said she repeatedly asked the jury foreperson, identified as “A.M.,” to advise the judge that the jury could not reach a consensus on the two felony counts for which Blakely was convicted. Those convictions were on Count 2, first-degree theft, and Count 13, use of his official position or office for personal gain.
“My vote on Count 2 and Count 13 were both not guilty because I believed then and I believe now that the State of Alabama failed to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt,” Pentecost wrote. “A.M. yelled at me over and over throughout both days of deliberations, ‘I AM NOT GOING TO HAVE A MISTRIAL’ as well as other statements making it sound like this was her courtroom … .
“She and other jurors began to speak to me with raised voices, they attempted to bully me and over time I gave up as I was suffering from AFib.”
Both of the convictions are Class B felonies punishable by up to 20 years, and they resulted in Blakely’s automatic removal as sheriff.
In their motion to strike the affidavit and motion, prosecutors said without elaborating that “there are serious doubts about the truth of the affidavit.”
Baschab, who is presiding over the case by special appointment after all Limestone County judges recused themselves, is a former justice on the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. Prosecutors quoted language from a 1999 appellate case in which she concurred to make their point:
“A consideration of [a juror’s attack on his own verdict] would destroy the integrity of the jury system, encourage the introduction of unduly influenced juror testimony after trial, and discourage jurors from freely deliberating, and inhibit their reaching a verdict without fear of post-trial harassment, publicity, or scrutiny.”
