DOCUMENT 211

ELECTRONICALLY FILED
11/10/2020 10:57 AM
44-CC-2019-000476.00
CIRCUIT COURT OF
LIMESTONE COUNTY, ALABAMA
BRAD CURNUTT, CLERK
IN THE 39th JUDICIAL CIRCUIT FOR THE STATE OF ALABAMA
LIMESTONE COUNTY

STATE OF ALABAMA, )
)
v. ) CASE NO. CC-2019-0476
)
MICHAEL ANTHONY BLAKELY, )
)
Defendant. )
)

State’s Motion for a Trial Setting or a Status Conference

The State of Alabama hereby asks this Court to set the above-styled case for

trial, or in the alternative, to set a status conference so that the Court and the parties

may discuss an appropriate date for trial.

1. A Limestone County Special Grand Jury indicted Defendant Michael

Anthony Blakely on twelve felonies and one misdemeanor on August 21, 2019.

Doc. 2. Defendant Blakely, the Sheriff of Limestone County, was permitted to

continue working as Sheriff because no Alabama law authorizes his suspension

while under indictment. Cf. Ala. Code § 12-17-188 (requiring the suspension of

district attorneys while under indictment); Ala. R. Jud. Inq. Comm. 14 (requiring,

as a practical matter, the suspension of judges while under indictment).

2. This Court held an initial hearing in this case on November 12, 2019.

At that hearing, Defendant Blakely pleaded not guilty to all charges. This Court set

the case for trial on March 9, 2020. Doc. 66.

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3. Because of the Defendant’s position as the Sheriff, this Court ordered

the Circuit Clerk of Limestone County to distribute juror questionnaires to all

prospective jurors. Doc. 80. Similarly, this Court ordered a larger-than-normal jury

panel to be assembled.

4. On March 9, 2020, the Court separated the full venire into three panels,

qualified the jurors, and instructed those who were not dismissed to return the

following week for voir dire. Shortly thereafter, however, the COVID-19 pandemic

swept across the country, and all jury trials in Alabama were cancelled.

5. In the following days and months, the Alabama Supreme Court issued

various administrative orders related to COVID-19. Ultimately, the Supreme Court

allowed counties to begin holding jury trials again on September 14, 2020. Ala. S.

Ct., Admin. Order No. 7. During the lull in jury trials, court officials in Limestone

County and elsewhere worked hard to develop new protocols to best ensure the

safety of jurors, litigants, and court officials. These protocols include temperature

checks, masking, plexi-glass barriers, social distancing, and other safety

mechanisms that limit the spread of the virus. Because of these protocols, Alabama

has been able to keep essential government operations going despite the pandemic.

6. While the State recognizes that COVID-19 remains an issue, it submits

that this case should be set for trial. No jurisdiction was prepared to hold a jury trial

in March 2020, but eight months later, times have changed. Court officials have

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now learned how to safely conduct a jury trial. What has not changed, however, is

that Limestone County residents continue to live and work in a community in which

their Sheriff stands accused of multiple felonies. These people deserve a resolution

on whether Defendant Blakely is guilty or innocent of the charges he faces. Three

hundred and sixty-three days ago, he pleaded not guilty. The State should be

permitted to make its case to show otherwise, under the safety protocols developed

since this case was last set for trial.

7. Accordingly, the State asks this Court for a trial setting, or in the

alternative, for a status conference to discuss an appropriate date for a trial setting.

Respectfully submitted, this 10th day of November, 2020.

Steve Marshall
Attorney General

s/ Kyle Beckman
Kyle Beckman
Sara M. (Peggy) Rossmanith
Assistant Attorneys General
A. Clark Morris
Deputy Attorney General

STATE OF ALABAMA
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
501 Washington Avenue
Montgomery, AL 36130
(334) 242-7300
Kyle.Beckman@AlabamaAG.gov

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I certify that on November 10, 2020, I electronically filed the foregoing using
the AlaFile system, which will send notification of such filing to the following
registered persons, and that any person not registered with the AlaFile system was
served a copy of the foregoing by U. S. mail:

Robert B. Tuten
Tuten Law Offices
223 Eastside Square
Huntsville, AL 35801
256.536.6009
Alafilerbt@tutenlaw.com

Marcus Helstowski
223 Eastside Square
Huntsville, AL 35801
256.534.3018
marcus@mcdanielhsv.com

Mark McDaniel
McDaniel & McDaniel, LLC
223 Eastside Square
Huntsville, AL 35801
256.534.3018

s/ Kyle Beckman
Assistant Attorney General