Presented by

The Boeing Company

1. Today it’s Sondland

 

2. Griffin schedules hearing

• The legal fight over who is in control of the Alabama Democratic Party is dragging onward.
• Montgomery Circuit Judge Greg Griffin has scheduled a Dec. 5 hearing on a motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by one side of the ongoing squabble.
• Both State Rep. Chris England and longtime party leader Nancy Worley claim to be the properly elected party chair.
• The Democratic National Committee recognizes England as the state party leader after members of the state executive committee elected him this month.
• Worley maintains the election was illegitimate and filed a lawsuit to try to block England from taking control.
• The two factions have been battling for control of the party.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A message from

The Boeing Company

• Boeing’s Huntsville-managed Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) program received an Aviation Week Laureate Award in the Defense Weapons Platforms category for supporting a historic missile flight test.

• This third such award was due to Boeing’s GMD program – in partnership with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency – completing a first-of-its-kind flight test earlier this year when two GMD system interceptors were launched to destroy a threat-representative target.

• The test solidified confidence in the nations’ only system that can intercept an intercontinental ballistic missile and data collected from the test will enhance missile defense for years to come.

• The success of this flight test is yet another example of Boeing’s commitment to supporting our customers and meeting their mission.

• Read more here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Prosecutor: Smith was a ‘bully with a badge’

• A Montgomery police officer who shot and killed an unarmed black man was a “bully with a badge,” a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday, while a defense lawyer said the young officer had to make a split-second decision to defend himself.
• The attorneys’ opening statements offered contrasting depictions of the Feb. 25, 2016, shooting that led to murder charges against Montgomery Officer Aaron Cody Smith.
• Smith, who is white, fatally shot 58-year-old Gregory Gunn after Smith stopped Gunn as he was walking home and Gunn fled a pat-down. The defense maintains Smith fired in self-defense because Gunn was grabbing a painter’s pole, but prosecutors said Gunn was never a threat to the officer.
• Prosecutors acknowledged an autopsy showed Gunn had cocaine in his system and that he did run from Smith, but told jurors, “you can’t kill a man because he ran.”
• Full story HERE.

 

4. Marshall: For violent crime, enough is enough

• Attorney General Steve Marshall pens a new op-ed in today’s Alabama Daily News.
• In it, he decries the scourge of violent crime he says is rampant in our state right now.
• Here’s an excerpt:

• Read Marshall’s full piece HERE.

 

 

5. News Briefs

Tua Tagovailoa’s parents send message of thanks for support

• TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — The parents of Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa say the support the family has received “is nothing short of amazing.”
• Galu and Diane Tagovailoa issued a statement Tuesday through Alabama’s athletic department and on Facebook. Tua Tagovailoa had surgery Monday in Houston for a dislocated right hip suffered in the Mississippi State game. The team’s surgeon, Dr. Lyle Cain, predicted a full recovery for the Crimson Tide star, who has been projected as a high NFL draft pick.
• The statement thanks “all of the Alabama family and everyone across the world for the prayers and outpouring of love and support for our son and our family.”
• It also says the family has “felt the unceasing prayer, and words can’t express how overwhelming and uplifting that has been for us.”

Police detective fired, accused of stealing from evidence

• WETUMPKA, Ala. (AP) — Authorities in Alabama say a police detective has been arrested for stealing items from an evidence locker.
• News outlets report 32-year-old Sean Blackburn was arrested Tuesday and charged with two counts of second-degree theft.
• Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Lt. Shawn Loughridge says the Wetumpka police requested the agency’s help in investigating the suspected theft.
• Wetumpka Assistant Police Chief Ed Reeves says the department noticed pieces of evidence missing from case files last week and traced the disappearance back to Blackburn.
• Loughridge says Blackburn is accused of taking a gun and narcotics from the department’s evidence locker. District Attorney Randall Houston says the investigation is ongoing.
• The nine-year veteran was fired from the department last week.
• It’s unclear whether Blackburn has an attorney who can comment on his behalf.

Hearing scheduled in Aniah Blanchard case

• OPELIKA, Ala. (AP) — A preliminary hearing is scheduled for a man charged in the kidnapping of a missing college student.
• Ibraheem Yazeed is scheduled to appear before a judge Wednesday.
• Yazeed is charged in the disappearance of 19-year-old Aniah Blanchard. She was last seen Oct. 23 in Auburn, Alabama. She hasn’t been found.
• Prosecutors on Tuesday filed a motion seeking permission to take a DNA sample from Yazeed. A judge said he will hear arguments on the request Wednesday.
• Blanchard’s car was found abandoned more than 50 miles (90 kilometers) away. Police said the car contained evidence that Blanchard had suffered a life-threatening injury.
• The charging document says a witness identified 29-year-old Yazeed as the man he saw force Blanchard into a car.

Alabama man charged in killing of rival college football fan

• LITTLEVILLE, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama sheriff says two football fans “got into it” while watching the Louisiana State University-Alabama game and one is accused of fatally shooting the other during a fight.
• Colbert County Sheriff Frank Williamson told the Florence TimesDaily that a group gathered to watch the Nov. 9 game at David Allen Fulkerson’s home in Littleville. James Michael Roland Merritt was cheering for LSU, who beat Alabama that day 46-41.
• Court documents say the fight escalated when Fulkerson thought Merritt called him an expletive. Williamson says Fulkerson shot Merritt and added that alcohol was a “big” factor. Fulkerson contends he acted in self-defense during the fight.
• News outlets report Merritt died Friday after nearly a week on life support. Fulkerson is charged with murder.

 

 

 

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