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Thread: Derrick Ryan Dearman - Alabama Death Row

  1. #11
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    Derrick Dearman Appointed New Attorney

    By Brad Gunther
    WKRG News

    Derrick Ryan Dearman, charged with the brutal murder of six people including an unborn child last year, has been appointed a new attorney.

    Two weeks ago attorney Sidney Harrell filed a motion to withdraw as attorney for Dearman stating that with “other pressing court matters and the demands of this case it is in the best interest of all concerned that the court appoints other counsel in these cases.”

    Judge Roderick Stout granted the motion and today appointed Mr. Jason Darley to represent Dearman.

    Dearman’s six Capital Murder and two Kidnapping charges are still pending before a Mobile County Grand Jury.

    http://wkrg.com/2017/04/04/derrick-d...-new-attorney/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
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    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
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  2. #12
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    Accused killer in Citronelle mass murders seeks to undergo mental evaluation

    By Prescotte Stokes III
    al.com

    Documents filed in Mobile Circuit Court on Monday (August 28) afternoon show that attorneys for Derrick Dearman, 28, charged with killing five people and an unborn baby in Citronelle in 2016, needs to undergo a mental evaluation.

    The order filed with Mobile Circuit Court Judge Rick Stout by his defense attorneys, Jason Darley and James Vollmer claim that Dearman may lack sufficient present ability to assist in his legal defense.

    The order cites Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 15, stating that his attorneys are seeking to pursue a special plea of not guilty by reason of medical disease or mental disease.

    Dearman was charged with the killings of Robert Lee Brown, 26; Chelsea Marie Reed, 22; Justin Kaleb Reed, 23; Joseph Adam Turner, 26; Shannon Melissa Randall, 35. The sixth murder charge was filed because Chelsea Reed was five months pregnant with her and Justin Reed's first child.

    At the time of the incident which occurred in early morning hours of August 16, 2016, Dearman's estranged girlfriend, Laneta Lester, had fled to her relative's home on Jim Platt Road in Citronelle. Lester told authorities that Dearman had been abusive.

    Citronelle police said Dearman came to the home and Lester called police to report him for trespassing. When officers arrived, they could not locate Dearman and left.

    Sometime between 1:15 a.m. and daylight, Dearman returned to the home. Dearman is accused of killing each of the victims by shooting them and/or chopping them with an axe.

    An infant was found unharmed at the scene.

    Court records filed today show Derrick Dearman was indicted in March on six counts of capital murder and two counts of first-degree kidnapping. He is being held without bond.

    Following the killings, police said Dearman stole a set of car keys from the home and left, forcing Lester to come with him. Lester grabbed a three-month-old infant, who was not harmed, and took the child with them.

    Dearman drove Lester and the infant to his father's home in Greene, Mississippi, where police said Dearman told his father what he had done. He released Lester and the baby at that time.

    Lester took the car and drove herself and the baby back to Citronelle, where she went to the police department and told investigators what happened.

    Dearman's father took him to the Greene County Sheriff's Office in Mississippi, where he was arrested that afternoon. Dearman was extradited to Mobile County two days later and charged in the quintuple slaying.

    The order filed by Dearman's attorney's on Monday, list six conditions for Dearman while he seeks treatment.

    Defendant shall undergo examination on an out-patient basis by a psychiatrist or psychologist under contract or employed by the Alabama Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation.

    If the defendant is in custody, the Sheriff's Department will be responsible for custody, care and transportation during out-patient visits.

    The district attorney must make the nature/circumstances of the charged offenses available to the psychiatrist or psychologist. The defense attorney's must do the same.

    Upon completion of the clinical examination copies of the written report will be forwarded to the circuit court judge, defendants defense attorney's and the district attorney.

    The written report will address the mental evaluation and the opinion of the psychiatrist or psychologist.

    Further criminal proceedings will be continued until the mental evaluation is completed. However, that does not include, bond hearings, grand jury hearings or preliminary hearings.

    Attorneys for Dearman have not commented on the order at this time.

    http://www.al.com/news/mobile/index....rt_river_index

  3. #13
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    February 28, 2018

    In Citronelle mass murder, court still evaluating accused killer Derrick Dearman

    By Lawrence Specker
    al.com

    A year and a half after the axe murder of five people in Citronelle, a court is still trying to resolve the question of whether accused killer Derrick Dearman is competent to stand trial.

    Recent developments also include a motion regarding medical care for Dearman, though the exact issue remains unclear.

    Court records indicate that a jury trial for Dearman has been set for Sept. 10, which would be a little over two years after a spree that shocked Citronelle. The bodies of five adults were found in an isolated home on a dirt road west of the town on Aug. 20, 2016. Law enforcement officials allege Dearman entered the home in the early hours of the morning; attacked the sleeping residents using an axe and at least one firearm; killed five adults including a pregnant woman; and kidnapped his estranged girlfriend and an unrelated infant, eventually freeing them.

    Dearman was charged with six counts of capital murder and two of kidnapping, and entered an initial plea of not guilty on Aug. 31, 2016. In March 2017 a grand jury indicted him on multiple counts of capital murder, both for murders committed during a burglary and a murder involving multiple victims. At a May 2017 arraignment, Dearman pleaded not guilty to the charges.

    Since then the case has taken a somewhat convoluted path, most of it dealing with Dearman's mental fitness to stand trial.

    In mid-August 2017, Circuit Judge Rick Stout, at the request of the state, ordered that Dearman should undergo a mental evaluation to be completed by the state of Alabama. It was to focus on three topics: Dearman's competency to stand trial, his mental capacity at the time of the offense and his intelligence quotient (IQ).

    But at about the same time, one of Dearman's two court-assigned attorneys, James Vollmer, asked to be allowed to withdraw from the case. He cited "continuing and irretrievable breakdown of the attorney/client relationship," and said Jason Darley would continue to represent Dearman.

    Then at the end of August the court ordered a mental evaluation at the request of Darley and Vollmer. The document on file says that the two had filed notice of Dearman's intent "to pursue a special plea of not guilty by reason of medical disease or defect and not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect."

    In September, Deborah McGowin joined the defense. Then in October, Darley and McGowin submitted a motion seeking to put some conditions on the evaluation requested by prosecutors: For example, that Dearman's lawyers should be present, and that it be narrowly limited to the question of whether Dearman was competent to stand trial.

    This filing appears to contradict (or at least defer) the idea of special plea of not guilty: It says that Dearman objected to any mental evaluation. It also says that "At the present time, Mr. Dearman has not indicated that he will introduce evidence of this nature at trial and has not raised the issue of 'not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect,' his competency to stand trial or any claims regarding his intelligent quotient." To introduce evidence about his mental condition before he has made such a plea would violate his right against self-incrimination, the motion argues, and the results of any evaluation should be kept under seal until such a plea is made.

    The motion was denied in early November, and Stout ordered Dearman to be transported to the Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility in Tuscaloosa for an evaluation on Nov. 14. That appears to have taken place, but in mid-December Stout ordered supplemental evaluations focusing on Dearman's IQ and his mental capacity at the time of the offense. These were to be given only to the judge, who would review them before giving full or redacted copies to the defense and prosecution.

    "All that evaluation process is ongoing," Darley said Tuesday.

    The order again seems to imply that the court anticipates the possibility of a special plea of not guilty due to medical or mental disease or defect. Darley, who has represented Dearman since the beginning, said Tuesday that Dearman's original plea of not guilty still stands.

    It appears that in early February Dearman's attorneys made a motion regarding medical treatment, though the subject of their concern isn't spelled out in the public record. On Feb. 9, Stout filed an order: "Defendant's Motion to Order the Mobile County Metro Jail to Provide Adequate Medical Care as Required Under the United States and Alabama Constitutions is DENIED."

    Darley said Tuesday that he could say very little about medical issues without violating his client's privacy. Asked if he felt his client was still at risk due to some unnamed medical issue, Darley said Mobile County Metro Jail employs an independent medical company, and "it's my understanding they see Mr. Dearman regularly."

    Sheriff Sam Cochran said Dearman was receiving more than adequate care at the jail, which is run by the Mobile County Sheriff's Office.

    "Mr. Dearman is receiving excellent care from our medical professionals and the court has recognized and confirmed this as well," Cochran said. "His legal maneuvering will have no effect on the excellent care he receives with our medical staff at Metro Jail."

    As for what happens between now and the trial date in September, Darley said the case is so unusual that he hesitated to make any predictions. "We're still working our way through the motions," he said.

    The victims killed in Citronelle were Robert Lee Brown, 26; Chelsea Marie Reed, 22; Justin Kaleb Reed, 23; Joseph Adam Turner, 26; Shannon Melissa Randall, 35. Chelsea Reed was five months pregnant.

    The house where the murders were committed burned down a couple of weeks after the crime. Neighbors said it had become an location of interest to sightseers.

    https://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/20...rder_cour.html

  4. #14
    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    Man charged in 2016 Citronelle quintuple murders seeks to plead guilty

    By Ivana Hrynkiw
    AL.com

    The man accused of killing five people in Citronelle with an ax and gun in 2016 plans to plead guilty to capital murder charges, according to court records the suspect signed without an attorney.

    Court records filed Tuesday show Derrick Dearman intends to plead guilty to 10 counts of capital murder--two counts for each of the five victims.

    The filing states that the Mobile County District Attorney's Office plans to dismiss another two counts of capital murder and two counts of kidnapping. The notice was filed Tuesday, but it was signed by 29-year-old Dearman-- acting without an attorney-- and D.A. Ashley Rich on Friday.

    Official plea agreements have not yet been filed. Last week Dearman fired his attorneys and asked to represent himself, one of his lawyers Debbie McGowin said. The judge granted his request, and asked Dearman's former lawyers stand by.

    McGowin added that Dearman went against the advice of his counsel.

    Dearman was indicted last year on six counts of capital murder and two counts of first-degree kidnapping for killing five people in August 2016. He is charged with the slayings of Robert Lee Brown, 26; Chelsea Marie Reed, 22; Justin Kaleb Reed, 23; Joseph Adam Turner, 26; Shannon Melissa Randall, 35. The sixth murder charge was filed because Chelsea Reed was five months pregnant with her and Justin Reed's first child, but Tuesday's filing states that is one of the counts to be dismissed with Dearman's guilty plea.

    Indictments state Dearman killed the five people and unborn child by shooting them with a gun and "chopping" them with an ax.

    Mobile County Circuit Judge Rick Stout said Friday he has no doubts that Derrick Dearman was mentally fit to either stand trial or plead guilty. Records show he denied a motion from Dearman's attorneys for a hearing to determine Dearman's competency. According to the order, the judge reviewed reports about Dearman's mental status and questioned him.

    "It clearly appeared the defendant does have such rational understandings. His answers to the Court's questions were responsive and his understanding of trial proceedings was above normal," the judge wrote. "Eye contact was maintained during questioning, and nothing regarding his appearance or actions were abnormal."

    The quintuple murder happened after Dearman's estranged girlfriend, Laneta Lester, fled to her relative's home on Jim Platt Road in Citronelle after she said Dearman was abusive. In the early morning hours of Aug. 21, 2016, police said Dearman came to the home and Lester called police to report him for trespassing.

    When police arrived, they could not locate Dearman and left. Sometime between 1:15 a.m. and daylight, Dearman returned to the home and, according to the indictment, Dearman killed each of the victims with a gun and an ax.

    An infant was found unharmed at the scene.

    Police said Dearman then stole a set of car keys from the home and left, forcing Lester to come with him. Lester grabbed another infant, who was not harmed, and took the child with her. Dearman drove Lester and the infant to his father's home in Mississippi, where police said Dearman then told his father what he had done. He released Lester and the baby.

    This post will be updated.

    https://www.al.com/news/mobile/index...itronelle.html
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  5. #15
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    Mississippi man seeks to plead guilty in 5 Alabama slayings

    MOBILE, Ala. (AP) -- A Mississippi man charged with using an ax and a rifle to kill five people in rural Alabama has signed a document saying he wants to plead guilty.

    Court records show Derrick Dearman of Lucedale, Mississippi, signed a document last week saying he plans to plead guilty in killings that occurred two years ago near Citronelle.

    The town is located in southwest Alabama about 35 miles (56 kilometers) from Mobile.

    A trial would still have to be held under state law because the 29-year-old man plans to plead guilty to capital murder, which carries a potential death penalty.

    Dearman is accused of killing the five people at a home where his estranged girlfriend was staying. Dearman has told reporters he was high on methamphetamine at the time.


    http://www.knoe.com/content/news/492862911.html
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  6. #16
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    Judge accepts guilty plea from Citronelle quintuple murder suspect

    By Christopher Harress
    AL.com

    Derrick Dearman, the man accused of killing five people during a meth-induced frenzy a little over two years ago in Citronelle, has pleaded guilty to capital murder.

    Circuit Court Judge Rick Stout accepted to plea.

    However, under state law, Dearman will still face a jury trial because he plead guilty to capital offences, which could see him face the death penalty.

    The slayings, which took place in Aug. 2016, left three men and two women dead, including a pregnant woman and her unborn child. Dearman used an axe and a gun in the murders.

    Dearman, who formally fired his two court-appointed attorneys last week, filed the documentation Friday, ahead of what would have been the first day of his trial Monday.

    Judge Stout had denied a motion last week that suggested Dearman was not mentally fit to stand trial. Stout wrote that he doesn't have any doubts Dearman is fit to stand trial or enter a guilty plea.

    "It clearly appeared the defendant does have such rational understandings. His answers to the Court's questions were responsive and his understanding of trial proceedings was above normal," the judge wrote. "Eye contact was maintained during questioning, and nothing regarding his appearance or actions were abnormal."

    He is charged with the slayings of Robert Lee Brown, 26; Chelsea Marie Reed, 22; Justin Kaleb Reed, 23; Joseph Adam Turner, 26; Shannon Melissa Randall, 35. The sixth murder charge was filed because Chelsea Reed was five months pregnant with her and Justin Reed's first child.

    https://www.al.com/news/mobile/index...source=twitter
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
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  7. #17
    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    Derrick Dearman found guilty in 5 Citronelle murders, jury recommends execution

    By Anna Beahm
    AL.com

    Derrick Dearman, the man charged with killing five people, one of whom was a pregnant women, and kidnapping his estranged girlfriend and an unrelated infant, has been found guilty of 10 counts of capital murder, according to the Mobile County District Attorney's Office.

    The jury recommended the death penalty, according to the DA's office.

    Dearman was charged with six counts of capital murder and two of kidnapping, and entered an initial plea of not guilty on Aug. 31, 2016. In March 2017, a grand jury indicted him on multiple counts of capital murder, both for murders committed during a burglary and a murder involving multiple victims. Dearman pleaded not guilty to the charges in May 2017.

    The bodies of five adults were found in an isolated home on a dirt road west of the Citronelle on Aug. 20, 2016. Law enforcement officials allege Dearman entered the home in the early hours of the morning; attacked the sleeping residents using an axe and at least one firearm. Police say he killed five adults including a pregnant woman; and kidnapped his estranged girlfriend and an unrelated infant, eventually freeing them after he took them to a relative's home in Mississippi.

    Questions about Dearman's competency to stand trial arose and a change in council happened last fall, AL.com journalist Lawrence Specker reported.

    Dearman objected to any mental evaluation, according to court filings from earlier this year. Records also say that "At the present time, Mr. Dearman has not indicated that he will introduce evidence of this nature at trial and has not raised the issue of 'not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect,' his competency to stand trial or any claims regarding his intelligent quotient."

    https://www.al.com/news/mobile/index..._guilty_o.html
    In the Shadow of Your Wings
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  8. #18
    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    Derrick Dearman to face death penalty hearing in October

    By Christopher Harress
    AL.com

    Derrick Dearman, who killed five people and an unborn baby with an ax and gun in Aug. 2016, will be formally sentenced during a death penalty hearing October 12.

    The hearing comes a little less than a month after Dearman fired his legal team and admitted his guilt to the murders, which was reported by investigators as the worst mass killing in Mobile County history.

    During a jury trial, which is required in capital murder cases even when an admission of guilt is forthcoming, the jury found Dearman guilty and recommended he face the death penalty.

    The bodies of five adults were found in an isolated home on a dirt road west of the Citronelle on August 20, 2016. Law enforcement officials alleged at the time Dearman entered the home in the early hours of the morning; attacked the sleeping residents using an axe and at least one firearm. Police say he killed five adults including a pregnant woman; and kidnapped his estranged girlfriend and an unrelated infant, eventually freeing them after he took them to a relative's home in Mississippi.

    https://www.al.com/news/mobile/index...ace_death.html
    In the Shadow of Your Wings
    1 A Prayer of David. Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry! Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!

  9. #19
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    Derrick Dearman sentenced to death for 2016 Citronelle slayings of five and unborn child

    By Christopher Harress
    AL.com

    Derrick Dearman, the man who killed five people and one unborn baby during a meth-induced killing spree in Citronelle more than two years ago, was sentenced to death Friday.

    Without ritual or drama, Mobile Circuit Court Judge Rick Stout said that the court agreed with jury's recommendation in sentencing the 30-year-old father of two to death.

    In coming to his conclusion, Judge Stout dispelled myths about Dearman's mental health and notions that his drug use mitigated the murders. "Those mitigating factors were found not to exist," said the 72-year-old veteran judge. "After the axe attack took place, Dearman then callously shot each victim."

    Judge Stout spoke at length and in gruesome detail about how each the five victims died, describing the axe wounds and then the shootings, only briefly being interrupted by sobbing from one of the victim's families.

    Dearman pleaded guilty in late September after firing his attorneys. The move came after Stout deemed Dearman mentally fit to stand trial. While most criminal cases would be concluded after a guilty plea, capital offenses are still heard in front of a jury, per Alabama law.

    In denying the motion that Dearman was unfit to stand trial, Judge Stout said:

    "It clearly appeared the defendant does have such rational understandings. His answers to the Court's questions were responsive and his understanding of trial proceedings was above normal," the judge wrote. "Eye contact was maintained during questioning, and nothing regarding his appearance or actions were abnormal."

    Dearman was found guilty during that trial and the jury recommended the death penalty for the killing of Robert Lee Brown, 26; Chelsea Marie Reed, 22; Justin Kaleb Reed, 23; Joseph Adam Turner, 26; Shannon Melissa Randall, 35. The sixth murder charge was filed because Chelsea Reed was five months pregnant with her and Justin Reed's first child.

    The bodies were found in an isolated home on a dirt road west of Citronelle on Aug. 20, 2016. Law enforcement officials alleged at the time Dearman entered the home in the early hours of the morning; attacked the sleeping residents using an axe and at least one firearm. Police say he later kidnapped his estranged girlfriend and an unrelated infant, eventually freeing them after he took them to a relative's home in Mississippi.

    After the sentence was handed down, District Attorney Ashley Rich asked the judge to consider preventing Dearman and his family from profiting from his story by signing movie, TV show and any sort of book deal, for example. Judge Stout said he agreed with the request in principle but would need a motion written up at a later date. "I have no objections to that request," shouted Dearman from his seated position.

    As court was adjourned, Dearman was stood up by some of the eleven law enforcement officers in the courtroom and led away. Dressed in blue with white sneakers, Dearman looked back at his father who smiled and held up his fist in response.

    https://www.al.com/news/mobile/index...ace_final.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  10. #20
    Moderator Ryan's Avatar
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    Dearman entered Alabama's death row on 10/12/18.

    http://www.doc.state.al.us/DeathRow

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