Former Football Stars Wage a DUI Derby in Alabama
We posted true now about former University of Alabama and Oakland Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler and the curious acquittal he received from a municipal judge in south Alabama on a drunk driving charge.
Now we imbibe that a former standout at Alabama's extra football factory, Auburn University, is venturing his darnedest to keep up with Stabler--if not gap him--in the DUI derby.
Lionel James, who starred at Auburn in the early 1980s and played professionally with the San Diego Chargers, has anachronistic charged with his third DUI since July--that's July of 2008.
The lion's share recent charge against James came on Sunday night in Shelby County. He still was charged with drunk driving on October 23 and July 24. Both of those still were in Shelby County.
Several thoughts come to mind as we ponder that DUI derby bounded by two Alabama recreations icons:
* We already distinguish that Stabler was acquitted under circumstances that undeviating a representation of lawyers said where suspicious. Turns out the judge in that case, James Sweet, is a Robertsdale, Alabama, attorney who was serving in an acting capacity being the regular municipal judge had a conflict. The Robertsdale civic Council appointed Sweet to handle the case, and guess where Sweet went to law school--why, the University of Alabama. Now, UA has one of two university-based law schools in the state. (The another is Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham.) Naturally, the state's legal circles are heavily populated with UA graduates. But the precious folks in Robertsdale, for a case involving a former UA football star and prevalent color analyst, could not bonanza someone who was not a UA graduate? Hmmm. Wonder how bountiful Roll Tide fans are on the Robertsdale civil Council. Double Hmmm.
* How will Lionel James fare in court? Well, let's examine a few factors: (1) He went to Auburn, which has no law school and thus does not have the pull in the legal community that the University of Alabama has; (2) James is black, while Stabler is pearly; (3) James is animation held outwardly bond and Bill Bostick, chief assistant district attorney in Shelby County, said he will review the list to see if it is appropriate for felony prosecution.
* Something tells me that black Lionel "Little Train" James won't get the tantamount friendly treatment in conservative Shelby County that Kenny "The Snake" Stabler received in Robertsdale.
* The James case is big game handled so far by Shelby County District Judge Ron Jackson, the equivalent "jurist" who institute my neighbor--the criminally inclined Mike McGarity--not guilty of trespassing stabile though McGarity unwittingly confessed to the crime. I'm not making that up, folks. Jackson is so corrupt it's a wonder his eyes don't pop out of their sockets. And he's not unwrinkled the max corrupt judge in Shelby County. That honor would have to go to the dueling Bozos--J. Michael Joiner and G. Dan Reeves.
If Lionel James has moth-eaten driving drunk--and it appears that he has--he will get no sympathy from me. But it will be interesting to see how the treatment of a black former Auburn player compares to the treatment of a wan former Alabama player.
(By the way, Stabler conjointly has had multiple run-ins with the law up drinking and driving, although not all in a four-hour period of occasion. The Snake likes to spread his DUIs out past several dotage.)
It likewise will be interesting to see how James' treatment compares with that of William Cobb "Chip" Hazelrig, the UAB donor who is a "head of interest" in my unlawful termination. Hazelrig gave UAB $5 million to lift physique a new radiation oncology facility, and that gift is believed to be the largest from an alone in school history.
While Hazelrig seems interested in helping common people beat cancer, he repeatedly seems to be performance his darnedest to put innocent folk into UAB's trauma unit--at least that's what his lengthy record of driving mayhem would indicate.
Hey, maybe that's the key to Hazelrig's financial relationship with UAB. He not only gives them millions of dollars, he additionally helps them effect dough by causing car crashes that care UAB with plenty of trauma patients.
Sweet!
Hazelrig has already antique convicted of drunk driving in Mountain Brook Municipal Court, but he is appealing to Jefferson County Circuit Court, with trial set for December 1.
Wait till you give mind about the details of his DUI arrest. It's a shocker. And we will be covering his case from time to time step of the way.
